By Valor and Arms
by Lyoko Native
Summary: Sequel to All for Our Country. With spring on the horizon, humanity is on the verge of losing the war.
1. Chapter 1

**By Valor and Arms**

_Chapter One: Operation Titan_

McPhee was an old man. He knew that. But what he couldn't fathom was how the seven teenagers selected to help protect the capital of the United States of America had survived as long as they had. When the idea of using ex-members of the Xanadu as soldiers and informants was placed on the table, the U.S government had expected to find experienced adults that would be willing to help, not seven teenagers with records that could put the usual juvenile delinquent to shame. They'd found no adults that left the Xanadu and survived, but the seven teenagers they'd managed to pull from the Xanadu's database were more war-experienced than most of the adults they found. If any adults _had_ left the Xanadu and survived, they hadn't come up in the short time period the Xanadu's database was hacked.

Faced with no other options, the U.S government had reluctantly decided that if Washington D.C was to survive, the teenagers had to be summoned.

Not that, McPhee noted silently, they'd be fighting right away. Their involvement had to first be approved, and then had to be discussed in a war meeting, and their training would take time, as well. But the elderly human man was confident that the teens could help the U.S get the upper hand on the war.

McPhee had grey hair and black eyes that sparkled as the obnoxious blue light that came from the screen he stood before shone on them. His sideburns were combed neatly, and his hair was shaved short in a military style cut. He wore a military uniform, though—he laughed at this quietly—in the years since he'd retired from the army, he'd gained what most people would call a beer gut, thus the uniform was more modern than the one McPhee had worn.

He'd been a five-star general during the War in Vietnam almost fifty-five years earlier, but currently seventy-five, McPhee was no longer that spring chicken. He'd been told that he'd been chosen to head the operation involving the teens—called 'Operation Titan'—because of the things that he'd seen in the War in Vietnam, but McPhee had another reason on top of that. Though an old, ex-general, he had a warm aura about him. He'd been told repeatedly that with his aura and the fact he smelled of peppermint and cigars, he created an atmosphere of a grandfather. It was comfortable and, if Operation Titan was to succeed, the selected teenagers needed someone they felt comfortable around.

McPhee was that person. As the doors behind him opened and the room filled with the loud protests of the selected teens, General McPhee stroked his silver-colored mustache and waited for the protests to quiet. When they didn't do so right away, he turned and faced them, his old yet strong hands gripping the railing of the platform he stood on for support.

The seven teenagers continued to shout at the fourteen C.R.S agents that had been enlisted to retrieve them. McPhee coughed into his hand, and the seven teenage magical creatures finally took note of him. He looked to each of their faces, and he thought back to the files he'd been given on them. The old man put names to faces.

On his far left was the elf girl Karolyna Kiovote. Next to her was the genetically mutated cat boy Odd Della-Robbia. The rumored demigoddess Yumi Ishiyama stood next to him. The wizard August Winters. The golem Ulrich Stern. The wood faerie Samantha Knight. Finally, to his far right, was the elf boy Jeremy Belpois.

McPhee motioned for the agents to leave. Karolyna whispered something to Odd, but McPhee was out of earshot. He blinked, confused until he remembered that Karolyna, Odd, Yumi, Ulrich and August had all been in West Virginia, and the vehicle used to transport them from the small town where they lived to Washington D.C was the same. Samantha had been in New York City—the city the war had hit the hardest—and Jeremy had been in New Hampshire.

When the doors closed once more, McPhee turned to the screen behind him and pulled a small controller from his pocket. He pointed to the screen and clicked a button on the controller. A map of the U.S appeared, and small red dots appeared across it. They were clustered in West Virginia, New York and around Washington D.C. An explanation wasn't required, but McPhee gave one anyway, wetting his lips with his tongue before doing so. "Take note of these dots. Each of these dots represents an attack on humanity by the hands of the Xanadu Clan. Our army is trying their best to combat the clan, but their numbers are too great. If the casualties continue, we'll soon be forced to call a draft pick." McPhee looked around the map sadly, and then pointed to one of the newer dots in New York City with the controller. A picture popped up. In the picture, casualties of war littered the streets, and water could be seen near the horizon. In the bottom left-hand corner, a small triangle in a circle was out of place. McPhee clicked the button on the controller, and the picture soon swallowed the screen.

As it turned out, the picture was a screenshot from a video taken from a helicopter. The video started at first blurry, but soon, corpses of dead soldiers from both sides of the war filled the screen. The angle changed to reveal the entire road was covered with the casualties. The person that McPhee assumed was holding the camera muttered a faint 'oh my god.' The screenshot soon came into view, and then the inside of the helicopter was shown before a door was opened. In the distance, the Statue of Liberty stood out. It appeared to have helicopters and other flying objects swirling around it, and explosions could be made out around the base of the statue.

The video ended there, and the screen revealed the map again. McPhee paused before looking to the seven creatures. He swallowed. "That video was taken this morning." He pointed the controller to the wall, and the dim lights became brighter. He could make out the details of the creatures when the lights reached their full intensity. McPhee noted that Karolyna's hair was shorter than it was in the picture that he'd seen of her, and that Jeremy's glasses were so cracked that it was a wonder he could even wear them on his face without the lenses falling apart. "A full evacuation of New York City was ordered. All remaining troops have been ordered to protect Lady Liberty. It's impossible to identify the casualties because anyone who approached the war zone is attacked, and usually killed." He placed his hands on the railing again and looked down to his feet. "If things continue at this rate… even if we do call a draft…"

He looked to the teenage creatures sternly. "…we could very well lose this war." McPhee coughed again. "That is why we called the seven of you. Currently, the capital is attacked by the Xanadu Clan, but then they seem to retreat. They come back later and attack again. It is impossible to predict when they will return, as it varies. Civilians are dying because the pattern is so unpredictable and the army isn't prepared.

"We need advice on their weak points. A way to disarm their magical traps, a way to stop the younger soldiers without killing them, how to tell when they're going to attack…" McPhee waved his hand to show that the list continued. "I'm going to take this moment to tell you that you'll also be in battle alongside soldiers, so it won't come as a shock to you later on…"

McPhee paused. "The United States cannot lose this war. If we do, what is the rest of the world to do? We have one of the most powerful armies in the world. If we fail, so will the rest." He looked to each creature. He listed each of them. "Karolyna. Odd. Yumi. August. Ulrich. Samantha. Jeremy. You are the only surviving ex-Xanadu members that we know of." He paused again, standing up and folding his arms behind his back. "My name, it is McPhee. I represent the interests of the U.S, and the survival of humanity.

"You seven… you fought the Xanadu for a while now, your records say. This is your chance to see their disbanding. This will be a long journey; that much I can justly say. It will be long and hard and there's no guaranteeing you'll survive. But in the end, I believe it will be worth it. Will you join our cause?"

McPhee waited for them to respond. Odd took a few steps forward and raised his hand—paw, McPhee corrected himself. "Uh, hey, McPhee or whatever? I've got a question." Odd said. "Is this the part where you say, 'your country needs you'? 'Cause I'm from Italy."

"Shut up, Odd." Karolyna ordered. She looked up at McPhee. "Also, you said my name wrong. You pronounced it like 'Carolina,' you know, like the states. It's actually pronounced 'carol,' as in a song, and then 'Lynn,' like the last name, and then 'nah,' like… um… gangster speak for 'no.'" She smiled triumphantly at her explanation before adding, "Also, you can just call me 'Lyna.' _So_ much easier."

When it appeared that Odd and Karolyna—Lyna—were about to continue on the road of nit-picky details, Yumi walked over to them and hit them each on the head with her fan. She looked up to McPhee. "Let me get this straight. You want us to give you information to help you win the war, and also to act like soldiers to protect the capital of the United States, even though most of us are only fourteen?" She asked. McPhee nodded.

"In short, you want us to kick Xanadu ass." Ulrich simplified, which Yumi responded to by hitting him on the head with her fan. They whispered sharply to each other for a moment after that, motioning to McPhee occasionally.

McPhee held back a laugh. "Yes, in short. Like I said, I can't guarantee your survival, but even if you don't, you'll get to take some of those damn clanners with you!" This time, McPhee couldn't hold in his laugh. His laugh was like a roar, commanding and located in the pit of his stomach. He wiped a tear from his eyes, and he noticed that the teens had no idea why he was laughing. "Uh… a clanner is what we call a member of the Xanadu Clan."

The teens thought about that for a moment. "_Oh!_" They said together, some laughing while the others commented on the term. McPhee couldn't hear all of what they said, but he could make out 'that makes sense' and 'I get it.'

McPhee coughed. "I also want to inform you that this isn't a one-ended deal. You'll all be making salaries of which you may do with as you please. On days when you aren't training or fighting in the war, you may go about and enjoy the things we have to offer in Washington D.C," He coughed, but it was a real cough, not the kind he'd used to gain their attention. "You'll be provided bedrooms here in our base so you can be ready at a moment's notice. We will provide you with food and water and other such necessities." McPhee struggled to remain optimistic.

"I ask you again. Will you join our cause?"

The creatures paused. They looked to each other.

"You had me at 'food'!" Odd laughed.

"I've got nothing better to do…" Samantha shrugged with a smile.

"Count me in!" August pointed to himself with his thumbs. He then pointed to McPhee with his pointer fingers. "You can _so_ count me in!"

"Sign me up!" Jeremy announced, throwing an air punch up towards the ceiling before staggering, as if pained.

"Jeremy!" Lyna called over to the elf boy. She looked up to McPhee. "Oh, oh, oh! Sign me up, too! I'm in if he's in!"

"I'm so in, I'm almost out I'm so in." Ulrich sang.

Yumi bowed respectfully. "When do we start, McPhee?" She asked.

McPhee smiled. "Soon." He answered the demigoddess. He looked over the teens. "Children," The old man said, his voice echoing through the room. "Welcome to Operation Titan!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two: Injuries_

Like the rest of the building, the Titan Wing's walls were painted white on the top and dark grey on the bottom, with silver crowning down the middle, dividing it equally. The tiles were white and silver, checkered like most kitchen tile, and they made the same sound as steel flooring when walked on. The ceiling above was painted white and the lights were obnoxiously bright, saturating everything below them. There were eleven doors; three made of glass, eight made of steel. The glass doors were separated down their middles, where they opened. The metal doors had a spiral pattern on them, and a dark grey keypad next to them, located on the wall on the right-hand side of the door, just above the crowning.

While the metal doors were opaque and therefore the inside could not be seen, the glass doors were the opposite. Jeremy normally would've taken the time to look inside, but his body ached all over, and the light paired shone down on the cracks in his glasses, which made his eyes hurt worse.

The elf boy spaced out for a moment, but he was forced back into reality when he noticed that someone had removed his glasses. He noticed Gus standing beside him, and before Jeremy could demand the return of his spectacles, he saw a red light. He tried to make out what it was, but the fact that he couldn't make out much of anything got in the way. Gus then turned to Jeremy and slid the glasses on his face carefully. The elf boy blinked, saw his wizard friend clearly for the first time in a long time, and then smiled.

Someone tapped on his shoulder. "Excuse me?" A woman's voice asked. Jeremy turned to her. She had brown hair and eyes, and she wore glasses. Some of her hair was tied into two buns on either side of her head while the rest fell to the curve of her waist. She wore a red, short-sleeved blouse with black lace around the neckline and black buttons. She wore a black pencil skirt, red leggings and black high-heeled shoes. In in right arm, she held a red clipboard, and with her left hand, she held out a piece of plastic on a black string to the elf boy. He took it from her, and she grabbed another one and handed it to Gus. After doing so, she walked away to stand next to McPhee.

"These are key cards. The metal doors require you to either slide your key card or manually enter the code printed on it to open the door. Behind them are your bedrooms." McPhee explained. He directed each creature to a door. "We put in an extra room because it looked funny without it." The old man joked, but it was true—there were seven creatures but eight metal doors. Imagining one of the doors gone made the room seem off-balance. "To your right is the kitchen. To the left is the observation room for the training area. All the way down the hall is the recreation room. Bathrooms are in your bedrooms."

McPhee reviewed what he'd said in his head, struggling to find what he'd missed. "Oh, yes. This is Madeline Fortescue, my assistant." He slapped the young woman standing next to him on the back. She lurched forward, and then looked to McPhee in annoyance. She shook her head before returning her attention to the creatures. "Anyway, it's getting late. Get some rest." McPhee and Madeline walked out of the wing, parting the crowd of teens.

Jeremy watched the two of them walk down the hallway. He noticed for the first time that McPhee had a cane, and his limp was visible. The elf boy rubbed his neck and moved towards his bedroom, but someone dragged him instead into the kitchen. He was confused for a moment until he realized Lyna was hugging him tightly. She released him and walked over to the metal table inside, sitting in a metal chair. The kitchen's interior resembled the hallway.

The elf boy looked at his friends and Sam—the wood faerie being his ally but not someone he knew well enough to call his friend—and smiled. Odd had raided the pantry and the refrigerator, after which he placed the food he'd collected on the table. Jeremy walked around it and sat on the dark countertops—he took note that they were granite, a fact he only knew from being in the granite state for the previous three months—and watched as the six others laughed and conversed. "So," He said, forcing himself into the conversation. "What did I miss while I was gone?"

Yumi placed her hands under her chin, thinking. "Well, I'm sure you know that the whole war-thing is old news," She shrugged. The elf boy frowned. Most of what he knew about the war was from what he'd overheard. He knew nothing about the state of the world. "But Ulrich got a new katana, I got a new fan, Gus broke his wand—"

"Hold on, you broke your wand?" Jeremy asked the wizard with a laugh. Gus nodded reluctantly, and the elf boy laughed harder. "How'd you manage that?"

"I, uh, ran into a demon," Gus explained. "It had, uh, really strong teeth."

Jeremy nodded. "I can see how that would happen,"

"—and Lyna got a haircut." Yumi finished, aggravated.

The elf boy looked to his sister. "I noticed that! It looks nice." He complimented, and Lyna smiled. She ran her fingers through her hair.

The teens' conversation steered off in another direction. They ate the food Odd had set out—much to his dismay, and Jeremy safely assumed this was caused by the fact the cat boy had gotten out the food solely for himself—as they talked. Jeremy watched them eat, listening in no part to what they were saying, but ate nothing himself. He was starving—ravenous, more like it—but over the previous months; the elf boy had developed the nasty habit of waiting after everyone else had eaten to eat, and that was only when he could. The rest of the time, Jeremy would find himself raiding the trash can for scraps that had been thrown out by his master, Griffith Thompson, or, when his master would eat something that created crumbs—such as, for example, a cookie—the elf boy would get as close to Master Thompson as he could get and hold his hand up in a cup position to catch the crumbs.

Jeremy's stomach growled, and his face flushed as the six teens in the room with him stared at him. They seemed concerned, and he realized it was because he'd been staring at the food, hunger written almost literally on his face. Lyna was the first to speak. "Jeremy, why don't you sit down?" She asked, patting the open seat next to her.

He shook his head, rejecting the offer with, "Nope, I'm fine right here."

"You look hungry. We have food…" Lyna waved a cookie at him as a temptation—he found this sort of ironic, seeing as how a cookie had been on his mind.

He waved his hands at her. "No, I'll wait until you guys are done."

She huffed. "Fine, if you want to be a meshuggener and wait to eat even though you're skin and bones and we have lots of delicious food, go take a shower. I can smell you from over here."

Her brother laughed, knowing the fact that he smelled horrid was true. Master Thompson had shown little interest in keeping the elf boy alive, let alone keeping him clean, which added up to three months with little food and no showers. Jeremy slid off the countertop and walked out of the kitchen, fumbling around with his key card for a moment before sliding it down the card slide that was installed in the keypad next to his bedroom door. The metal door opened from the center of the spiral design, revealing a dark room behind it.

Jeremy entered the room and the metal door closed behind him, blocking out the last bit of light that had entered the room. He stumbled around in the darkness until he found a light switch. He flicked it on, and a light flickered dimly to life. The elf boy noticed a knob next to the light switch. He turned it one way, which made the light dimmer, and then quickly turned it the other way, making it brighter. When the light was bright enough, Jeremy looked about the room.

It was almost an exact replica of his bedroom in West Virginia, and the only thing that differed was the translucent turquoise-blue—it was the same shade as his turtleneck—glass door on his left hand side. It, like the transparent glass doors in the hallway, did not require a key card to open it. Jeremy sat down on his bed and removed his shoes, noticing the poor shape they were in. There were multiple holes in them, and the edges were torn. He took note of his pants and his turtleneck as well—his pants were worn around the hem, as were the sleeves and the bottom of his turtleneck. He knew the back of his turtleneck, though he could not see it, had slashes in it from where he'd been whipped.

He shook his head, stood, and walked into the blue doors. They opened automatically, and then closed behind him. His bathroom was inside, and the elf boy took note of the laundry hamper. He struggled to pull his turtleneck over his head.

* * *

When he exited the bathroom, he'd already dressed. The wounds that had covered his back earlier had vanished—he could turn himself into water, and the water from the shower would take the place of the wound, thus healing it; the only bad thing being that it considerably raised his inner body temperature—therefore they weren't bothered by the replicas of his clothes that he'd pulled on. The elf boy jumped at his sister, who'd taken a seat on his bed with her eyes focused on something in the distance. "Good god, Lyna," He shook his head. "You scared me. What are you doing in here?"

"You know, we agreed to do this, but I don't think we even thought about it long enough to know what exactly we signed up for." Lyna said, looking down to her feet, which showed the feet of her striped stockings. "I know the Xanadu is evil and all, but the U.S government isn't exactly one with God, either…"

Jeremy sighed. "You came in here to say _that?_" He asked in annoyance.

Lyna crossed her arms defensively. "Don't I _usually_ go to you for moral console?"

He sat down next to her. "Look at it my way. We're enemies of the Xanadu, and they're trying to exterminate all of humanity. The U.S government, at least, is trying to stop them. If we don't at least try, they'll lose. And we have to help fast, so there's no time to think about what they've done wrong or conspiracy theories." He wrapped an arm around her in a loving way, which was when he realized that the 'moral console' was a distraction.

Lyna pulled down on the back of his turtleneck's neckline. His hand flew to the back of his neck and he jumped up. She jumped up and pointed a finger at his accusingly. "A-ha!" The elf girl shouted, her voice a strange combination of triumph and concern. "Oh, I knew it! You were a slave, weren't you?" She asked, taking a few steps closer to him and then crossing her arms.

Jeremy said nothing as he searched her eyes. He hung his head, and then muttered, "Yes,"

The elf girl groaned and stomped her feet twice. "Jeremy, you _meshuggener!_" She said, smacking the upside of her brother's head. "Why didn't you _call_ me?" She demanded.

"Oh, yeah, because I could _totally_ just pick up a phone and call you!" He rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't have made much of a difference, anyway. If someone saw my number they'd call me in and I'd be dragged back no matter what." He pointed out.

Lyna huffed. "I know," She said, her shoulders raised both defensively and in annoyance. She smiled warmly. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter now, does it?" She shrugged, and then an idea occurred to her. "When was the last time you had something to eat?"

Jeremy thought for a moment. "Uh—"

"If you have to think about it, it was too long ago." Lyna interrupted her brother's train of thought. "Come on," She said, dragging him to the door. She pushed a button underneath the knob that controlled the intensity of the light, which opened up the spiral metal door. The elf girl dragged the elf boy over into the kitchen. She opened multiple cabinets until she pulled out a bag of cookies. She ripped open the bag and held it out to her brother.

There was a long moment of time where nothing happened. "Have a cookie," Lyna offered, pushing the bag closer to her brother. Jeremy looked at the bag, and his eyes illustrated the fact he was dying for a cookie. He reached into the bag, ran his finger around the inside, pulled it out and then licked his finger. "No, I meant a cookie, not a crumb." His sister clarified.

"You mean one cookie," He said.

"As many as you want, dude." She shrugged.

"So two cookies,"

"Do you only want two cookies or do you want more?"

"I want more."

"Then why did you suggest two?"

"Because I thought you'd only let me have two, at most."

"Just eat the whole damn bag, Jeremy."

Jeremy looked at the bag again. "You want me to eat all of the cookies."

Lyna had found the conversation amusing at first, but she'd realized her brother was serious and it had lost its amusing characteristic. "Yup."

What came next was unexpected—Jeremy wrapped his arms around his sister's neck. "You're the best sister _ever!_" He shouted happily, and he snatched the bag from her and sat down on the floor and began to stuff his face with cookies. Lyna looked at him strangely, and then shook her head. She reached down, and her brother suddenly stopped short, staring at her hand. When it got closer to the bag, he started to growl at it. Lyna blinked, but continued to reach for the bag. When her fingertips were half a centimeter from the edge of the bag, Jeremy pulled it into his torso and shouted, "_NOTHEY'THAVEANYTHEY'REMINEMINEMINE!_"

Lyna jumped, and she stared at Jeremy for a while. He glared at her for a few minutes, and then realized what he was doing. He offered her the bag and said, "I'm sorry. My instincts took over for a few seconds."

"No, that's okay," Lyna waved the bag off. "I don't want them anymore."

"I insist." Jeremy pushed it closer to her.

Lyna reached inside the bag, grabbed a cookie and shoved it into his mouth.

* * *

A/N: Hey, what's up? It's been a while. I've seriously got to put this up now, because I'm _totally bored…_ besides, war zone! Who doesn't love that?


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three: Semi-Automatic_

From the observation deck—which was really a rectangular room wider than it was long—the practice arena—which was also a rectangular room, but it was longer than it was wide and on much lower ground—could be seen. The observation deck had a large piece of glass where the wall had been cut out, and below the glass was a machine pushed up against the wall. The machine was reddish-brown in color, and it possessed many buttons, dials and flashing lights. It was lined up inhumanely perfect to the glass with three black chairs on wheels rolled under it. The backs of the chairs came about eighteen inches above the area where the chairs and the machine met. On the other side of the room, there was a tall rectangular door that led to the long, curved path to the practice arena. The practice arena had dirt covering the floors, water outlining the walls—including the area in front of the door, but there was a piece of titanium stretching across the moat to serve as a bridge—a mannequin and boxes the opened up to fire darts at whomever was practicing. The darts were to symbolize bullets, and the goal for the creatures' first exercise was to stay in the practice arena as long as possible while doing as much damage to the mannequin as they could without getting hit by a dart.

Ulrich had gone first—he'd done so only because the creatures hadn't known what to expect, therefore he supposed he might as well go first because he wouldn't be hurt—and when he was hit by a dart, he'd argued that he wouldn't have died if the bullet had hit him where it did—vest were provided for the creatures, and they had small targets in various places that showed where they should try to avoid being hit—because it had hit an organ he didn't even use—he didn't use any of them, to be precise. McPhee had refused to allow him to continue.

Sam agreed to go after the golem. There was a brief moment where nothing happened as Ulrich made his way up through the path, but when he returned to the observation deck, he removed the vest he wore and passed it to Sam after the two high-fived. Sam pulled the vest over her torso and pulled the dart off of it. She fixed her hair, entered the passageway and shut the door behind her.

McPhee waited for her to prepare after she entered, and then adjusted the settings on the machine. He sat on in the chair closest to the door leading down to the passageway, and Madeline stood next to him. Odd sat in the middle chair, occasionally twirling in it, his tail following him as he did so. Jeremy sat in the final chair with a bag of candy in his hands. The elf boy grabbed a handful of candy and munched on it whenever his sister shot him a glance.

The night before, Lyna had weighed Jeremy and compared it to his weight the last time they'd checked it. He'd been underweight by a few pounds before he'd been taken by the C.R.S* anyway, but he'd lost about twenty-one pounds over the course of three months, and Lyna was _determined_ to make him gain it back.

As Sam attacked the mannequin while jumping and spinning to avoid darts, Jeremy looked nervously to his sister. He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him. "No," The elf girl denied flatly.

His shoulders rose defensively. "What do you mean 'no'? I haven't even asked you yet!" He protested.

"You don't have to! I know what you're going to say!" Lyna pointed out. "You were going to ask if you could go next and the answer is _no!_"

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because I _said_ so, _that's_ why," She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"That's not a legitimate reason." Jeremy pointed out, frustrated.

Lyna huffed. "Because this is exercise. Exercise burns calories, and burning calories causes weight loss, which is the opposite of what you need."

"But—"

"No 'buts'! You're, like, thirty pounds underweight!"

"Okay, _that's_ not fair! You're going by normal human weight, and besides, I'm only _twenty-four_ pounds underweight!"

"Twenty-four pounds too many!" Lyna shoved a fistful of candy in his mouth. He swallowed it and said something in protest, but his sister interrupted him with an unrecognizable sound something along the lines of 'dahb-up.' Jeremy began to protest again, but Lyna interrupted him with 'dahb-up' again.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned back to watch Sam. Soon after, the wood faerie nearly dodged an incoming dart, and she seemed frustrated by that, as if the dart came from a blind spot that was really getting to her. She knelt on the ground and dug her fingers into the dirt. She spun her sword around on her fingers to block incoming darts as she appeared, at first, to merely kneel there.

For a few seconds, the elf boy lost interest in the practice of the girl he barely knew. Then, for a second, he thought he saw something green. He saw it a few more times before it became obvious that it was the sprout of a plant—it had disappeared at first because dart hit the dirt and covered it—and quickly, it began to grow. Soon, the sprout became a sapling, and the sapling became a small, thin, quivering tree. The small tree grew to a tree about the same size as a tree found in many front or backyards, which then became a tree tall enough to block Sam's blind spot—and some of the glass used to observe her.

Sam stood up, taking her hands out of the dirt, but the tree didn't seem to be done growing. It was a willow tree, and its wispy branches grew out. They seemed alive somehow, other than the fact the magic inside of them caused them to move about and grab darts in mid-air.

It took a moment for Jeremy to see it, but he finally realized that the branches of Sam's willow tree were the _exact_ same color and shade as Aelita's eyes.

At first, it was merely an observation of his. Then, it became a conspiracy—had Sam done so on purpose or on accident? Jeremy wasn't sure. He finally decided that it didn't matter and enjoyed the nostalgia that the color brought up, leaning forward in his chair to stare at the branches.

For a while, he thought of Aelita. Just of Aelita; picturing what she'd looked like the last time he'd seen her and inferring what she would look like after the three months they'd been separated. His thoughts wandered to what she could possibly be doing at that particular moment. While he would've loved to have imagined her doing a great number of things, his imagination was limited by the fact she wasn't allowed to leave her bedroom. His thoughts went something along these lines: _she could be reading, playing with her toys, watching a movie, eating dinner, looking out her window, changing her pajamas—_

The elf boy had been picturing her doing what she could be doing as he thought of them, and as the last thought crossed his mind, Jeremy knew _exactly_ where his thoughts would go from there. He forced himself to think of something else.

Jeremy kept himself from looking at the branches of the willow tree—upon doing so, he caught Odd's attention, or more of, the pink color of Jeremy's cheeks caught Odd's attention. The cat boy looked from the elf boy to the glass, and he saw the willow tree. After a few minutes, he noticed the color of the branches as well, and he smirked before he looked at Jeremy. "Hey, Jeremy, is it just me, or does the color of that tree look familiar?" Odd asked.

The elf boy muttered something that sounded like 'it's just you,' which was a lie.

"Really? Because it sort of reminds me of Aelita." Odd was flat-out teasing Jeremy at that point. "So, are you thinking about her?"

Jeremy didn't respond.

"You thinking about her eyes, her hair, her clothes and the way they fall over her body—" Odd began, but Jeremy reached out and grabbed the cat boy's hair before he could finish.

"There is a certain line you should not cross," The elf boy began. "And where you're going is very, very close to that line. I'd suggest you'd stop now before I hurt you."

Odd stopped talking, but someone began to laugh. Madeline looked at Jeremy from the other side of McPhee's chair. Behind her, Sam opened the door. "You must be joking. I doubt you could hurt Odd. You look like you couldn't hurt a _fly!_"

"I don't doubt it," Odd said, rubbing the back of his neck carefully, as to not scratch it with his tiny, black claws. "He totally kicked my ass once. Not looking forward to him doing it again."

"I remember that. Einstein here and I had to drag your ass all the way to the elevator." Sam agreed. She removed the vest and tossed it onto the top of Odd's chair. "Your turn, dipstick."

* * *

"McPhee?" Jeremy poked his head into the general's office, and the old man waved him inside. His office was dimly lit and smelled heavily of cigars, but the lingering scent of peppermint made it bearable. The room was messy, the shelves and his desk scattered with papers. McPhee sat at his desk, a cigar hanging from his lips. His face was illuminated blue from the screen. It showed a map of the world, red dots scattered across it randomly.

McPhee looked from the screen to Jeremy, and then back to the screen. "What are you doing up? It's very late." He said, taking the cigar from his mouth and blew a cloud of smoke out. "Nearly ten o'clock."

Jeremy looked around and, seeing no other place to sit, sat down on the floor next to the elderly man. He thought for a moment, ran his fingers through his hair and then laughed bitterly. "I'm trying to figure out how to ask you this…" The elf boy muttered. He paused. "Do you remember earlier when Odd brought up someone named Aelita?"

"Yes," McPhee nodded.

"She, uh…" Jeremy paused. "She lives in France with her parents. Um… you're still looking for the Human King of creatures, right?"

"Yes," McPhee nodded again, tapping France on the world map with his cane. The map zoomed in to show France.

"That's her father." The elf boy looked at the map as new red dot appeared on it. He pointed to it. "That's about where they live, I guess." He blinked. Jeremy turned to McPhee and opened his mouth, but the man interrupted him.

McPhee pointed to the dot. "This is where the Human King lives." He clarified.

"About, yes."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? We need to offer him and his family protection!" McPhee stood up. He walked halfway to the door, and then turned to the elf boy. "Were… you about to ask me something?"

Jeremy paused again. "…I wanted to ask you if I could go see Aelita." He looked at McPhee for what felt like a long time. "…I miss her."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" McPhee shouted his question, staggering back to his desk and opening several drawers. Eventually, he shifted some papers around inside one of them and revealed a gun. "Semi-automatic pistol. If you're coming with me to an area in France that's currently under attack, you might need that." McPhee tossed the pistol carefully to Jeremy and then walked quickly over to the door. "Now, let's go, go, _go!_"

McPhee nearly ran out the door, and the elf boy remained still for a moment. He smiled, and then followed him.

* * *

*For those of you who haven't read '_The Bondservant,_' C.R.S stands for 'Creature Relocation Service.'


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four: Forever Ebony_

Darkness shrouded the entire room like a thick blanket. The only light in the entire room came from Aelita's flashlight, which was propped between the side of her face and her shoulder. It cast its light on the pages of her book so she could read them in the ebony that surrounded her. She wore the pajama shirt that had once belonged to Jeremy, the shorts that had been provided for her by Laurelei and a war dark green helmet with leaves placed in the netting that covered it—the leaves were for camouflage, but the helmet was merely for comfort. Outside, the wind almost completely drowned out the screeching of creatures and the occasional far-away gunshot.

Aelita sat with her blankets covering her knees and her book propped on them, her eyes tracing the words. A helicopter flew over Hermitage, shaking it briefly and startling Aelita, but soon, the sound of it faded away, and her eyes shifted to the window.

Her thoughts wandered from the text written on the pages of the book she read to the fact that her window created the perfect escape route. She'd attempted to escape many times—she had when she was younger, as well—but would always end up caught. Whether it was her door or her window, she just wasn't fast or sneaky enough to accomplish it. Aelita's eyes traced the grey curtain, pulled shut to keep any person from looking in and seeing the light.

She looked back to her book, and she carefully read over the text. For a long time, the entire room was still. Eventually, the wind died down enough for her to pick out voices, and she heard a door shut. Panicked, she clicked off her flashlight, pushed it under her pillow, tossed her book on the floor and grabbed the bat bolstered against the wall. She held it against her body in a way that someone would have to look hard to see it.

Once again, there was silence, only the wind piercing the still. Aelita placed her hand on her heart, feeling as if she'd overreacted. She felt around underneath her pillow, searching for her flashlight. Her blood froze cold when she heard a knock her window. After a pause, the window opened, and the curtains became nearly parallel with the floor as the wind blew them around. Aelita held onto her bat with a grip of death.

A figure entered her bedroom, closed the window, and then shivered. It muttered something in a tone so hushed that she couldn't make out what it had said. The voice seemed familiar, but Aelita refused to make any assumptions. The figure fixed her curtains, muttered something else and walked towards her. When the figure was within range, Aelita brought her bat to its head.

It hit her bed hard, and she fumbled for her flashlight. She clicked it on and shone it at the figure, revealing it to be Jeremy. "Oh, _god,_" The elf boy moaned in pain, the first thing he'd said that she could understand since he'd arrived. "That hurt. If you didn't want to talk to me, you should've just said so…"

"_Jeremy!_" Aelita exclaimed as quietly as she could manage, dropping the bat and her flashlight. She embraced him momentarily before trying her best to look at the place where she'd hit him. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea it was you!"

He waved her off. "It's alright." The elf boy smiled, and he asked, "Why do you have a flashlight?"

She blinked, and then picked up the flashlight. "Oh. I was trying to read a book." She laughed, embarrassed, but then looked down to the flashlight and twisted it between her palms.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just turn on the light?" Jeremy asked, leaning over to click on the table lamp. The lamp didn't turn on. He tried again, but it still refused to illuminate. "Why won't the light turn on…?" He asked in frustration.

Aelita shrugged. "All of the power in the city is off. I don't know if it's for our protection, or if the electricity was sabotaged or what…" She explained, and then flickered the flashlight. "But the noise outside… I doubt anyone is asleep." The human girl thought for a moment, and then added bitterly, "Except my parents, of course."

Jeremy laughed quietly. "I'm sure this isn't the first war they've had to sleep through."

She shrugged again. She muttered something inaudible, and then looked up to the elf boy. "How did you get here?" She asked.

"Helicopter," He responded nonchalantly.

"Where on Earth did you get a _helicopter?_"

"I, uh…" Jeremy paused. "…I'm an informant and a soldier for the United States' military. I asked McPhee—he oversees the operation—if he'd let me see you. It worked out well for him, too, because he wanted to offer your family protection."

Aelita blinked. She considered how she should respond to that. Asking him to promise her he'd be careful made her seem like a frightened little girl—in her eyes, at least. Demanding to know why he'd done so would make it seem like she was overprotective. Having no idea what else to say, she wrapped her arms around him and cooed, "That's so brave…" The elf boy had to try very hard to stifle a laugh at how hard she was trying. The human girl's face became confused, and she tapped on his back three times with her knuckles before she asked, "Why does your torso feel so hard?"

Jeremy gently pushed her off of him, and then pulled up the bottom of his shirt. Underneath, there was a thick, black vest. "Bulletproof vest. It protects most of my vital organs from being shot." He tapped on Aelita's helmet. "Sort of like your helmet protects your head. Why are you wearing that, by the way?"

The human girl flushed. "No reason!" She said quickly before fiddling with a strand of her pink hair. The elf boy smiled. He looked down to Aelita's flashlight, and then used his thumb to push down on hers. The flashlight clicked off. He looked back up to the human girl sitting in front of him. Even in the darkness, he could faintly see her hair and skin—this came from the fact that, though he did need glasses to see, his sight was better than most humans, her hair was oddly colored and her skin lacked all pigmentation. Aelita, on the other hand, could only see the dark figure again, but it seemed much less threatening since she knew what it was. "Will you open the curtains, please? It's really dark in here."

He nodded, stood, and walked over to the curtain. He opened them, and then sat down on her bed. She could see him much better at that point, the moonlight shining in through her window. She smiled at him, and then glanced to her bedside table. She carefully grabbed the corner of a charred piece of paper, and she pulled it out. The human girl looked it over, brought in her bottom lip as she thought, and then folded it in half. "So, what have you been up to?" Jeremy asked her suddenly, snatching her from her thoughts.

"What? Oh," She said, slowly reentering reality. "Just reading. I'm not really allowed to do much else." She sighed.

Jeremy shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it when a shadow blocked out the moonlight. It passed after several moments. The elf boy looked to the human girl. She looked to him, her expression simply terrified. "Come on," Jeremy said, offering his arm out to the frail girl, who grabbed it without missing a beat, her nails unintentionally dug into his sleeve and flesh. He flinched. Nevertheless, he led her away from the bed and to the wall.

After making sure Aelita couldn't be seen from the window, Jeremy motioned for her to be quiet and then pulled out a gun from a holster the human girl hadn't seen. Too afraid to ask why he had it, Aelita watched as the elf boy readied the gun for use. He took a deep breath, and then stood up.

He opened the window and looked outside. After a few minutes, Jeremy brought his head back into Aelita's bedroom, his eyes still looking out the window and his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Whatever it was, it's gone now," He said to the human girl before something metallic hit his shoulder and pinned him to the opposite wall. Aelita covered her mouth to keep from shouting, and Jeremy pulled the metallic object from his shoulder. It was shaped like a sharp feather. "A feather?" He asked himself.

The moonlight was blocked out again, and a large vulture-like bird perched on the windowsill. It had silver feathers that shone in the moonlight it kept from entering the bedroom, and its beak was long, sharp and appeared to be made of bronze. Its dark eyes were intense. It cawed out loudly, showing the undersides of its wings as it did so. Jeremy's eyes widened a little, and Aelita tried to inch away from it.

Jeremy pointed his pistol at the bird and fired a barrage of bullets at it, most of which were reflected by its feathers. The bird, in return, ruffled its feathers and then flapped its wings angrily, sending out an army of metallic feathers. The elf boy pulled water from the air and trapped a great deal of the feathers inside of it, the remainders lodging themselves in the wall. He let the water drop and fired more bullets, and once again, all but one of the bullets were reflected off. The last bullet hit the bird in its eyes.

The bird cawed out in pain, and it flew off of the windowsill. It glared at the elf boy with its one remaining good eye, and as it appeared to recoil before attacking again, bullets were fired at it from its left side. It glared at its new attacker, and it swooped down towards them.

Jeremy waited for a moment, and then ran, closed the window and slid on his knees to Aelita's side. "You okay?" He asked.

"Just fine," She nodded. "What _was_ that thing?"

"A Stymphalian bird," The elf boy said as the door to Aelita's bedroom swung open. The two teens looked to the frantic faces of Aelita's parents. The sickly human girl, however, seemed moderately disdained. Jeremy helped Aelita up, and then smiled nervously at her parents. "Hey there!" He attempted a warm greeting.

Anthea and Waldo just frowned at him, and then the human woman ran over to her daughter. "Aelita, is everything okay?" She asked, getting on eye level with Aelita.

Aelita rolled her eyes. "It _was…_" She muttered, grabbing her elbows.

Her mother looked up at the ceiling and then back down to her, looking at her sternly. Waldo walked over to his wife and placed a hand on her back. As Anthea lifted up Aelita—who tried her best to wiggle free—and placed her back in her bed, Waldo noticed the pistol in Jeremy's hand. "What compelled you to bring a gun into my daughter's bedroom?" The human man demanded, grabbing the elf boy's wrist with one hand and yanking his gun out of his hand with the other.

"This area of France is under attack right now. It was just a precaution I was told to take!" Jeremy protested as Waldo walked away from him. The human man was examining the gun, and his wife was struggling to keep Aelita in her bed. When she stopped resisting, Anthea walked over to Waldo and eyed the elf boy accusingly when she noticed the gun in her husband's hand.

"I can confirm that," An elderly voice called out. Aelita's parents looked out the doorway, and soon, an old man walked into Aelita's bedroom. He shook Waldo's hand, and then Anthea's. "Pleasure to meet you. My name, it is McPhee." Jeremy walked over to McPhee's side, and the old man took the pistol from Waldo and handed it back to the elf boy. "I work for the United States' military and currently oversee Operation Titan. I've come to offer you protection from the Xanadu."

For a long time, McPhee and Aelita's parents discussed the war while Jeremy stood next to the old man, his face as calm as he could manage. Aelita was completely out of the conversation, her eyes locked on the elf boy's profile. She reached for the charred piece of paper once more and unfolded it. It was a letter from Lyna, and most of it was too badly damaged to read, but the human girl was able to decipher that the elf boy had gone missing for a long time. She looked back to Jeremy, and after she decided to get his attention, she caught some of the conversation, which had turned into an argument.

"We wouldn't _need_ protection from the Xanadu if this kid's sister hadn't showed up begging us for help!" Anthea shouted, pointing at Jeremy.

"_What?_" The elf boy protested. "How _dare_ you turn this on my family!"

"If she hadn't asked me for help, the Xanadu _never_ would've found out where we lived!" Anthea pointed out.

"My sister had _nothing_ to do with the Xanadu finding you!" Jeremy defended.

"Of _course_ not," Waldo said sarcastically. "But Laurelei showed up to kill _you,_ right? Upon doing so she saw Aelita, and therefore learned where we'd been hiding." He defended their position.

"And it was because you a, took her into battle and b, didn't watch her while you were fighting that Aelita was _kidnapped_ and _tortured!_" Anthea added to their platform.

The elf boy twitched. "The Xanadu would've started the war anyway!"

"The fact my daughter was in captivity didn't boost their confidence at all, then?" Waldo asked rhetorically.

At that moment, Jeremy's nerves visibly snapped.

After they did, there was a moment where the only thing the elf boy did was stand there, twitching. Then, he lifted his pistol and fired a bullet at the wall between Waldo and Anthea, causing them to dodge it in opposite directions. He pointed the gun at Waldo and shouted, "The Xanadu wouldn't exist at _all_ if you had faked your own death instead of running away to Earth like a _cowardly little jack-ass!_" McPhee placed his hand on the elf boy's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "So I don't even want to _hear_ everything _I_ did wrong when _you_ should've been smart enough to fix your _own_ mistake _fourteen thousand years ago!_"

He kept the pistol pointed at the Human King for a while after he'd finished shouting. As Waldo's expression melted from one of fear to one of anger, Jeremy realized that he'd done something very, very wrong. The elf boy dropped the pistol and backed away from the human man. "Waldo, I—"

"That's _Mister Schaffer_ to you!" Waldo snapped. He looked to Aelita sharply, and when he shouted at her, she flinched. "Aelita, you will _never_ see this boy again!"

Aelita's eyes watered, and she looked like she was about to cry. "But—"

Her father interrupted her, "I _absolutely_ forbid it!" He looked back to the elf boy. "You'd better say good-bye now, because you won't get a chance later!" Waldo stormed out of the room.

When he left, the room was still and tense. Then, Anthea glared at Jeremy, shook her head and then said, "Some days, I wish that I had let you die." The words hit Jeremy and McPhee hard, but they seemed to hit Aelita even harder, because the tears that had blurred her vision began to roll down her face. Anthea walked out of Aelita's bedroom and followed her husband.

McPhee patted Jeremy's shoulder, and the elf boy bent over and picked up his pistol. He handed it to the elderly man silently before he walked over to Aelita. He embraced her, and then muttered, "I'm sorry. I really am. I just…" He paused for a moment. "…lost it."

Aelita shrugged through their embrace. "Sometimes, Jeremy, I think that you're certifiably insane." She said. When he seemed to sulk, she added, "And it's one of the things I love about you."

Jeremy smiled. "I love you," He admitted, breaking their embrace. She faked a smile, and so did he. He turned to walk away, but she gripped his wrist to keep him from leaving.

"Jeremy, wait," She stopped him. "I got a letter from your sister a long time ago. She said that you were taken… and that she didn't know where you were…" Aelita looked into his eyes. "…where did you go?"

The elf boy blinked, and he moved closer to Aelita. "I went to an auction," He said, not lying to her, but not giving her the entire truth. He paused, kissed her nose carefully, and then added, "Now, I really have to go. I have to get back to Washington D.C before morning or Lyna will totally drop-kick my ass." He faked a laugh, and so did she. Jeremy half-waved, and then walked out of Aelita's bedroom, closing the door behind him.

It was then that Aelita began to sob.

* * *

Jeremy looked around his room in the Titan Wing, and he tossed the gun holster on his bed. He leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. He groaned loudly, placing the palms of his hands on his forehead and weaving his fingers through his hair. He stumbled around for a bit before he leaned against his wall once more, his hands remaining in their position. The elf boy leaned on his wall for a few moments until the grief and frustration finally got to him. He started crying, and he slid down his wall to sit on the floor.

His door opened, and McPhee called out, "Jeremy?" The elderly man walked in, looking around.

"I'm over here," Jeremy said through his tears. He held his finger up so the old man could locate him.

McPhee walked over to him, and he sat down with the elf boy at his feet. He patted the open seat next to him twice, but when Jeremy remained seated on the floor, the elderly man patted the seat twice again and added, "Come here. Let this old man tell you a story." Jeremy sat down next to McPhee. "When I returned from Vietnam, I met the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. We started dating, but when her brother found out I'd been a general in Vietnam, he told their parents, who acted in a way pretty similar to how the Human King and his wife did.

"Well, needless to say, we didn't like that very much, so she and I continued to date in secret. Then, after about three years of dating, we got married. Her family wasn't at the wedding, obviously, but my mother—she raised me all by herself—adored her. We never heard from her parents again, but…" McPhee shrugged. "And we lived happily ever after. The end."

"Weren't you an adult, though?" The elf boy asked. "You didn't need her parents' permission."

The old man stared at Jeremy. "Look, kid, that's not the moral of the story." He pointed out bluntly. "The moral of the story is that love is _weird,_ and just because people don't approve doesn't mean it isn't real or that you can't make it work."

Jeremy laughed. He thought for a moment, and he asked, "What happened next? Are you two still married?"

McPhee sucked in his bottom lip, and he said, "She, uh, she died of cancer two years ago."

The elf boy blinked. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't say that. That bothers me. You're not sorry, you just feel my pain." McPhee corrected. He wrapped a grandfatherly arm around the elf boy and said, "But, if she was here, she'd be sitting here telling you this exact same man-to-man advice."

"Oh, yeah? Then what would you be doing?"

"Me? I'd be in the kitchen, making her a sandwich."

* * *

A/N: For those of you in the U.S, happy Thanksgiving!


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Five: Behind the Wallpaper_

After eight days, the noise from the battle finally quieted down. Aelita couldn't justly say if it had ended or if it had merely moved out of earshot; nevertheless the noise outside consisted only of the shaken voices of survivors. Inside Hermitage, it sounded as if someone was drilling holes in the wall, but other than that, it was as if nothing had happened. It wasn't until three days after the battle ended—making eleven days total—that the sickly human girl noticed something strange.

Which isn't to say she noticed it right away. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something about that particular day was offbeat from her normal day—the word 'normal' here means 'what Aelita had come to expect of her days even though most of us don't have the slightest idea what being a thirteen-year-old girl locked in her bedroom feels like'—but like most people, she ignored it because she was fully aware there wasn't a thing she could do about it anyway. After the feeling passed she opened a book, intending on reading it. However, there was something there that kept her from focusing on the tiny black text printed on the old-looking paper with seemingly torn edges.

Eventually, Aelita gave up and slammed the book shut with her eyes closed. She rubbed them, and then someone lifted her up unexpectedly. Her eyes snapped open to find her mother holding her while giving directions Aelita didn't care enough about to listen to to* someone Aelita didn't care enough about to look at. The human girl tried to wiggle her way out of her mother's arms until eventually her mother sighed. Anthea went to put her daughter on the floor, but Aelita took advantage of the motion and managed to break free. This resulted in her landing very harshly on the carpeted floor. "Good god, Aelita, what has gotten into you?" Anthea asked, crossing her arms.

Aelita opened her mouth, most likely to respond with something uncharacteristically sassy, when she noticed strong-looking men lifting her bed—sheets and all—out of her room. "Are we moving again?" She asked, and then added, "I don't see why we would be. It's not like we'll be any safer, what with a war raging on outside." The sickly human girl paused, crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from her mother. "And it _wasn't_ his fault."

Anthea looked up at the ceiling and huffed. "_Teenagers,_" She muttered, placing a hand on her forehead. She said nothing for a long time, instructed one of the men to be careful with something, and then looked to Aelita. "No, we're not moving. We're… relocating."

There was a pause. "Isn't that the same thing?" Aelita asked, not amused.

"Uh, _no,_" Her mother responded sharply, taking several of the larger books off Aelita's bookshelf and instructing the men to be careful as they removed it. "I mean that your father and I think that it would be best if you're closer to us, so we're switching your bedroom and his office."

Aelita didn't say anything at first, trying hard to remember where her father's office was. She'd only ever seen it once, before she'd fallen ill, and years of not moving from her one spot resulted in her forgetting where it was. She closed her eyes, remembering pushing on the entrance so it would open, and she remembered that it looked like the entrance was covered by something floral. It took a moment for her to remember that the entrance was covered by the floral wallpaper in the upstairs hallway. "You mean…" She paused, opening her eyes, "…the one behind the wallpaper?" Aelita asked innocently, her eyes confused.

Anthea thought for a moment. "I suppose you could look at it that way. It's not really behind the wallpaper as it is a revolving door _disguised_ by wallpaper…" She, too, paused, and then added, "We thought it would make all of us feel… _safer._"

"Well, if it's a revolving door, how is it safer? I could just walk right out!" Her daughter said, knowing she had little chance of changing her mother's mind.

"Under normal circumstances, you'd be right." Her mother smiled, walking over to her daughter and tapping the sickly human girl's tiny-in-comparison nose. "But you needn't worry about that because we've already thought of everything!"

Anthea walked out of Aelita's room, and Aelita huffed. "_'Everything.' _Had you thought of everything, you'd know that I'm not okay with this at all." She wobbled to her feet and found herself unable to collect her balance as quickly as she could on a normal day. After falling once and feeling as if she'd do so again twice, she managed to regain control of her balance just as her mother entered.

Her mother smiled. "Oh, good, you're up. Come on, don't dawdle!" She said, ushering Aelita out of her bedroom—which was empty except for the carpet—and down the hall. The wall at the end of it was turned so it created an entrance to the room on the other side. Most of the men who had been taking the furniture out of Aelita's bedroom—five in all—left, but one of them remained and stood next to the entrance on the left side. Waldo sat on his knees next to the right entrance, fiddling with something. "How's that contraption of yours coming?" Anthea asked, picking up her daughter when she turned to run.

Waldo said nothing at first, and then punched in a variety of buttons. The wall automatically turned so it appeared that nothing was out of the ordinary, and the human man stood. He pushed on the wall, of which achieved nothing, and then pulled on it, also of which achieved nothing. Waldo knelt down on the right side again and punched in the buttons again, which caused the wall to turn open again. The man standing on the left side of the hallway removed his hat to rub his head. "Well, I'll be damned! You actually _did_ manage to get the locking thingamajig to work!" He exclaimed.

Waldo smiled. "Yes, well, the important thing is that this room now has its own security device and can only be accessed through the front side."

Aelita, who had managed to refrain from panicking until this moment, began to panic. "Wait a second! This is _not_ okay!" She began to squirm, and Anthea rolled her eyes. The human woman entered the room behind the wall and placed Aelita on the bed. The human girl jumped up immediately after, but her mother simply picked her up and placed her back in bed. "_No!_ Let me _go!_" Aelita demanded.

Anthea, who was at this point sick of being kicked and screamed at, huffed. "For crying out loud, Aelita, will you calm down?" She demanded, grabbed her daughter's wrists and then pushed them against the decorative rails on the headboard. For a moment, there was nothing, but when Anthea released Aelita's wrists, her daughter—obviously—attempted to jump up again. However, this time around, she was forced back down by a small jolt of electricity sent through her system. Aelita looked to her wrists to see small rings made of blue electricity keeping her from jumping out of bed.

While this was meant to discourage her from jumping out of bed, this only added to Aelita's protest. She tried to pull her wrists out of the rings, and when that failed she attempted to merely struggle her way out, but the constant electric shocks just kept coming. Eventually, Anthea had to force Aelita to calm down by pushing down on her shoulders. "Stop it! Stop it right now!" She ordered her daughter, staring sternly into her eyes. "At this rate the only thing you're going to do is give yourself a heart attack!" The two human females stared at one another for a long time, and eventually, Aelita stopped struggling. "There," Anthea said, smoothing her hair and taking a deep breath. She looked at her daughter, who glared at her, and then walked out of the room without another word.

When Anthea was out of the room, the electric rings evaporated—charging the air—and the wall shut behind her. "_No!_" Aelita protested, much too late, jumping out of bed and running to the wall. She could see there was a crack in the wall where it could move easily, but as hard as she tried to open it—which included slamming both her palms and then her fists on what should've been a revolving door—it would not open.

Now, if you've ever tried to slam a revolving door, you would know that the only person who could accomplish this task is Chuck Norris. Sadly, Aelita was not Chuck Norris, and the fact that the door was locked didn't help her, either.

Eventually, she gave up on trying to force the door open. Instead, she stood up straight, fixed her hair, and declared with determination, "Who needs a door? I'll just have to go through the window." Aelita turned, and she sighed happily when she saw that there was, in fact, a window. "Stupid move, parental advisors!" She laughed at the locked revolving door. Aelita went over to the window, pulled back the grey curtain that blocked the glass, and then pushed with all her might to open the window. She'd closed her eyes shortly after beginning final task listed because it was a different window than the one in the room that had been her bedroom and it was being difficult. The labor of opening the window took away her breath and left her panting, but what happened next hit her in the chest so hard it made the labor seem like moving a feather from one side of a dime to the other.

Blocking an otherwise sure-fire escape were bars. Metal bars, like those used on the windows in prison. Unable to believe it at first, she placed her palm on one of the bars. Aelita closed her fingers and slid her palm from one of the bars to the space in-between it and the next. The space was smaller than her palm. She tilted her hand and slid it through the space. Though her arm was thin, her hand barely made it outside before her arm prevented her from pushing it farther.

After seeing this, Aelita turned and ran to the wall where it revolved and started pounding on it in vain. "Wait! _Please!_ Let me out!" She shouted, hoping someone could hear her. "_Mommy! Daddy!_ Let me out!" Aelita remembered shouting something similar when she was little, and she knew where that had gotten her. In her head, she decided that it was time to beg someone else. "_Someone! __**Anyone!**__ Please!_"

At this point crying, she ran from the wall to attempt to reach the window, but she tripped over her own ankles before she could. Nevertheless, Aelita called out for the one person she felt she always seemed to. "_**Jeremy!**_" She wanted to shout his name again, but it was drowned in her throat by her own tears and self-pity.

* * *

On the other side of the wall, her parents and the remaining man had listened to her entire panic attack. Anthea sighed and entered the master bedroom, and Waldo watched her for a moment. He listed to his daughter sobbing for a moment, and then sighed as well. He reached into his pocket on his shirt and pulled out a neatly folded wad of euro, and he said, "I hope this covers it."

The man looked at the money strangely, and then asked, "Why are you giving me more euros? You've already paid us. You asked me to stay because you wanted to tell me something."

Waldo glanced to the wall. "She's not been acting like herself recently…" He murmured, and then looked back to the man. With a stern look in his eyes, he said, "This is for putting up with my daughter during all of this."

The man heard something in Waldo's voice hat suggested the euros were for something completely separate than putting up with his daughter. The man looked from Waldo's stern glare to the wad of euro to the wall then back to Waldo's glare then back to the wall. He looked from the wall to the wad of euro and then back and forth between the two until a light clicked on in his head, at which point he looked to Waldo. The man took the money from the human and merely asked, "What daughter?"

* * *

*Don't you just hate this? You know, when you look at it and you know it doesn't look right but you know it is right and there's no other way to phrase it?

* * *

A/N: I formally apologize for the delay… You see, the Internet icon is literally _right next to_ the flag icon and it _totally_ just keeps seducing my arrow… In other news, I think I told you to read 'the Bondservant' to find out what the heck the C.R.S was. I don't think that's right. It's 'the Auction.' If it mentions the C.R.S in 'the Bondservant,' you'll find better information on it in 'the Auction' regardless.

Also, totally indiscreet '_Coraline_' reference!


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six: Lines Cross_

Months of sleepless nights had created a place where Aelita was no longer able to tell the difference between reality and fantasy—fantasy, she realized, being the relative term. Nightmares haunted her sleep and she could remember every one. The severity of the war left little room to recover from her nightmares. And with her parents' overprotectiveness forbidding her from Jeremy, she saw little light at the other end of a very, very long, dark tunnel.

The curtains were pulled back to let in the moonlight. Aelita decided that she'd just keep the curtains open all of the time—even if, she reasoned with herself, the Xanadu soldiers found her, how were they to get in? The moonlight, she found, was better at keep darkness from her than her lamp. First of all, her lamp could attract her parents' attention, for she didn't know how close of an eye they were keeping on her, and secondly there was something soothing about the silver moonbeams dancing on her window.

But at this particular moment in time, these were not thoughts or observations being made by the human girl. Her thoughts and observations revolved around a nightmare that had arisen from a sleep she didn't recall falling into. Like most of her nightmares, there was constant, swirling darkness demanding a cowardly reaction. Unlike her other nightmares, however, she did not argue with the darkness for two reasons—firstly, she'd long ago subjected to her torturous thoughts and had decided that she was an ugly, stupid little girl who feared the shadows; and secondly because she was in a nightmare where one could not argue or speak or scream even if they wanted to.

Aelita sat on dark, cold earth as the shadows circled her, and surrounding them was a forest—familiar, but nevertheless intimidating—that appeared to have no end in any direction but forward. She sat in a position that made her feel less vulnerable, but only slightly. Her forehead rested on her knees, the heels of her feet dug into her thighs slightly and her arms were wrapped around her hips to keep her legs from moving outward. The position hid her face, which was a good thing, for if she could've seen her face she would have curled into the position again. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but that only kept the bloody tears that tried to escape in, and she bit her lip to keep from crying. Besides the tears trying to escape, her body was bloody besides—though the open wounds left by the amputation of her wings had long since vanished, they bled heavily, and the blood had spread up as well, creating the appearance of bloody yet invisible wings. Her arms, legs, feet and neck were also bleeding, and she had dried blood caked onto her hands and face.

The nightmare had felt like it had gone on for hours, and every few minutes it seemed like Aelita began to bleed from somewhere else. Her body was going numb and she felt like she was dying. She waited quietly in her defensive position for death to come, but the only thing that did was more blood. Unable to hold it in her any longer, Aelita released a tiny, hardly audible yelp.

The shadows, however, heard the yelp and stopped swirling, but it seemed only to be because they were in hysterics, laughter echoing in the forest. "_P_o_o_r _t_h_i_n_g_," They cooed sarcastically. "_S_h_e_ m_u_s_t_ b_e_ t_e_r_r_i_f_i_e_d_,_ a_n_d _d_r_e_a_d_f_u_l_l_y _p_a_i_n_e_d_._" The darkness crept in closer, and wolves stalked out of the darkness inside the forest. The yellow eyes of the wolves sparkled with ill intentions. The red eyes of the shadows glistened with hunger. "A_r_e _y_o_u_ i_n_ p_a_i_n_, _h_o_n_e_y_? _A_r_e_ y_o_u _i_n _m_i_s_e_r_y_?_"

Now shaking, Aelita opened her eyes briefly and stopped biting her lip at the same time, but then squeezed her eyes shut again and began chewing on her bottom lip. The darkness chanted for her to answer them, and the wolves howled up towards the moon. Unable to speak, she merely nodded her head. On cue, the darkness laughed and began to circle her. It was slower, however. "S_t_u_p_i_d_ g_i_r_l_. _S_h_e_ c_a_n_'_t _f_i_g_u_r_e _o_u_t_ h_o_w _t_o _m_a_k_e _i_t _s_t_o_p_,_ e_v_e_n_ t_h_o_u_g_h_ w_e_ t_e_l_l_ h_e_r _e_v_e_r_y_ s_i_n_g_l_e_ t_i_m_e_!" They joked amongst themselves, red eyes narrow with amusement.

Aelita sat up. She opened her eyes and looked from one side to the other. '_How?_' She mouthed, her voice still missing, '_How do I make it stop?_'

It was at that moment that the sky went dark, like when a dark cloud passes over the moon—only more so. At this moment, it was as if all the moon gods and goddesses in the world had decided to go on strike and hit a switch, thus turning off the moon. It was like all the stars in the sky had been eaten by the darkness left by the moon. There was only one faint light far away, which was how Aelita knew that the darkness had begun to circle her faster. The wolves, too, inched closer, and they began to growl. "_A_r_e_ y_o_u _a_f_r_a_i_d _o_f _t_h_e_ d_a_r_k_?" The shadows asked, their motif question that Aelita had so many times refused to answer. She closed her eyes and dug at some of her wounds, attempting to make them bleed faster. She did this many times; as did the shadows repeat their question. They paused only for the wolves to howl, and then their question changed slightly; "Ar_e _y_ou af_ra_i_d o_f_ the dark?"

It was not the words that coaxed Aelita to open her eyes—she'd closed them because of the same words, and they hadn't changed—but the voice who said it. She opened her eyes to find that the head shadow—the one who often inflicted her with the most injuries and always asked to most difficult of their questions—had changed its voice and appearance to resemble Jeremy's voice and appearance. While the voice matched completely despite the coldness and hatred the words had been said with, the appearance left more to be desired—his hair was too dark to be blond, resembling more of a tan or light brown; his teeth were pointy; his skin was too light and his elf ears had been torn repeatedly. Still, the head shadow had changed enough to make her—at the very least want to—believe that the elf boy was standing in front of her.

If nothing else, it was his eyes that convinced her. The head shadow possessed eyes that looked exactly like Jeremy's. Even his voice wasn't enough to convince her otherwise. "Are you afraid of the dark?" The faux elf boy asked, getting closer to Aelita. He waited for her to respond, but she merely stared at him. "Come on, doll face, what's your answer?" He demanded.

She mouthed, "_Yes! Terrified!_" Aelita stood up, ignoring the pain it caused. She walked towards the head shadow, which still resembled Jeremy. The human girl held out her arms, as if she wanted a hug from the elf boy, and she smiled, blood welled up near her bottom eyelid. "_Jeremy,_" She mouthed, and he took a step back. "_I—_"

Aelita wasn't able to finish mouthing her sentence. The head shadow denounced the form of the elf boy when Aelita had stumbled close enough, and then passed through her. She'd forgotten that the shadows caused her to bleed, and passing through her had caused her to bleed internally. This she only knew after she coughed into her hand, creating a puddle of the red metallic body fluid in her palm. Blood rushed continuously from her mouth, nose and eyes after that.

Convinced she was as good as dead; Aelita let herself lie in the pool of her own blood that was still growing. The wolves and shadows began to move in, but before they reached her, the sun came out—or what Aelita assumed to be the sun. The wolves fled and the shadows disintegrated, and Aelita sat up enough to see it wasn't the sun—not really. Amaterasu waved to her from the sky, other figures floating behind her, all of them cloaked in golden light. The black sky faded to a pretty light blue color, and she could hear a voice calling her name. She looked first to the blood still pooled in her hand—why, she did not know—and then to the direction the voice was coming from. The voice's owner was running towards her, but they ran slowly and from the east, so the 'sunrise' created a shadow on them.

Regardless, Aelita watched them until they got closer her, in which case she could see it was Jeremy—the 'real' Jeremy, not the copy created by the head shadow. The elf boy wore tattered clothes and broken glasses. Over his clothes he wore a tattered brown cloak, and from his neck hung a broken leash. "_Aelita!_" He called out in concern, falling onto his knees when he reached her. The elf boy pulled the human girl up onto his knees, ignoring the fact that the blood cascading from her mouth fell onto his leg, most likely to permanently stain it.

Jeremy immediately began to heal her wounds so the bleeding would stop, and Aelita held the broken leash around his neck in regard. She could work up no energy to grip it, so it lay limply in her hand until she lost the energy to do that. Aelita looked up to the elf boy. His face was worried and his eyes were red, as if he was trying to keep from crying. To confirm her theory, he wiped his eyes with his arm. It took a while for him to realize that she was staring at him, but when he did, Jeremy held Aelita's face gently with his hand. "I'm going to fix you up," He comforted her, "You'll be good as new in no time flat, you'll see!" The elf boy tried to smile.

She also tried to smile, but her world was spinning and her body felt heavy. She was numb and she found it hard to breathe. Aelita took whatever strength she felt she had left, gripped the elf boy's face between both hands and kissed him. Her body forced her to break the kiss off earlier than she would've liked, and she fell back. She was still alive, occasionally blinking, but it was obvious she wasn't going to make it at this point. "_No!_" Jeremy shouted, getting so close to her that, though she was numb, she could feel him lying on her. "Just hold on! _Please!_ Don't die on me!" Aelita blinked, and though her eyes were still open, her vision was depleting.

"_Aelita!_"

* * *

She sat up, and she looked around. Surrounding her were dozens of golden mountains and clouds, and she seemed to be sitting on a cloud. Aelita looked around, and she crossed her legs, her hands gripping her ankles. Her body still felt numb and heavy, and she was still drenched in her own blood, but otherwise, she felt fine. Clouds in front of her parted, revealing a huge, golden plateau. The gold was beginning to hurt Aelita's eyes.

Something soared through the air above her. When she looked up to identify it, it could no longer be seen. Soon, however, it landed on the golden plateau, and everything gold faded to silver, which didn't hurt her eyes so much.

The figure was a dragon, massive in size. It had mostly silver scales, but the scales on the top of its head, down its back and the top of its legs and forelegs were red. The scales in the center of the red scales were darker red. It had bat like wings, the bones silver and the skin red. It had black claws and three white points extending up from its bottom jaw bone. It had fiery red eyes that blended into the red and darker red scales. The dragon sat on the plateau like a dog, and it curled its snake-like tail next to its hip.

For a long time, Aelita and the dragon stared at each other. Then, the dragon spoke without moving its mouth in a woman's voice. The voice was high in pitch and gave off the impression of an older child or a young teenager. "_Ah… Princess Aelita. Your family has roots in the origin of all that is good, and you are the angel to us all._" The dragon bowed its head. "_Long have I searched for you with the assistance of Xanadu, founder of the clan of which is named after him. My search halted abruptly two years ago when he died, and with the war that gave him a bad name, I've had to search for you through your nightmares._ _Your fears give you worries that keep you sleepless._

"_I, Avalon, will not rest until your fears no longer affect your well-being._"

* * *

A/N: Crap. I'm getting mushy gushy. Mental note—enough kissy-kissy-goo-goo.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven: Silver and Gold_

"Pawn to H4,"

Five days or so after Jeremy's mishap at Hermitage, Washington D.C had been attacked by the Xanadu. It had provided time for the creatures to advise strategies for fighting the clan, but otherwise not much else. Nevertheless, the battle had ended with fewer casualties than usual on the U.S military's side, and the day after the battle had ended, Jeremy entered the room at the end of the Titan Wing to find Lyna and Odd sitting at opposite sides of a chess board. Odd was white and Lyna was black, and the only piece out of its starting position was Odd's pawn. "Pawn to E5," Lyna commanded, and the pawn slid to the requested square. She spotted Jeremy standing in the doorway and smiled. "Morning, B.B! We're playing wizard chess!" She waved him in.

Jeremy nodded. "Apparently," He said, walking over to the board before looking around. The room was larger than most of the others, and it appeared to be made concrete. There was a red couch, a television, a foosball table and plenty of other things the elf didn't care enough about to make note of. The room, however, seemed to be a recreation room of sorts, and he looked to his sister. "TV over there. Why aren't you watching it?"

"There aren't any good shows on that don't seem to put teenage girls in sexual positions," She explained, added, "Pawn to E4," and then looked to Jeremy accusingly. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to get me to leave so you can kick Odd's ass at wizard chess."

"Yes, because I couldn't do that anyway." Jeremy admitted sarcastically. "It just seems like you watch TV all the time, so you understand my confusion…"

Lyna shrugged. "The news is depressing, dude. The music industry's in a sorry state. Every TV show staring real people seem like soap operas. Most cartoons are the boring kind of stupid, not the funny kind of stupid." She said as Odd moved his piece. She commanded another of hers, and then looked back to her brother. "In any case, you're up late. It's, like, nine A.M."

Odd scoffed. "Don't I know it. My brain is still numb." He shook his head and commanded a piece.

The elf boy, too, shook his head. "Well, up until now, I was trying to get to sleep." He said as his sister commanded yet another pawn to the center.

When she'd done so, she looked at him. "Really? You said you'd been sleeping fine for the past few days."

"Yes, but for the past few days I knew I had to go back and fight so I needed my rest or whatever," He protested. "They retreated or went to regroup or advanced in the opposite direction or _something_ last night, and I knew I wouldn't have to fight them again today."

"You'd still have been tired. What's eating you?"

"Well—"

"Is it that low-life scum that enslaved you who's eating you?"

"No—"

"Because I'll go kick their ass for you, if you want."

"May I talk, please?" He demanded, and his sister threw up her hands. He sighed, placed his chin on his hands, watched several more moves of the two creatures' wizard chess game and then admitted, "It's about Aelita."

Lyna nodded. "I miss her. She was so sweet." She said, looking off into space. "What about her?"

Jeremy opened his mouth, thought for a moment, and hung his head. "I screwed up."

She looked at him in disappointment, "Oh, Jeremy, did the dry streak get to you?"

There was a pause. "_What?_" He asked.

The elf girl blushed. "Nothing, go on." She said quickly.

Her brother looked at her for a second, and then continued, "Well, I told McPhee about her and then the place where she lived was under attack so he gave me a gun and told me to hurry because they'd need protection, so he brought me to her and we talked for a while…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Then we were attacked by a Stymphalian bird—"

Lyna interrupted him. "Oh, _cool,_ a Stymphalian bird! Those things are man-eaters, right?"

"Yes, and I think you need to kill them with an arrow or something because I shot at it and it _wouldn't die._ Anyway, the gunshots and the bird screeching woke up her parents and they didn't see the bird because it flew away, so what they were left with was a terrified Aelita and me with a gun…" He sighed. "McPhee came up and started talking to them but then her parents and I started arguing and basically they blamed _me_ for the war starting…

"I lost _my_ temper and then Mr. Schaffer lost _his_ temper and…" Jeremy paused. "…and now I'm never supposed to go near Aelita ever again."

There was another pause. "That's rough, dude." Odd offered his sympathy.

Lyna patted his shoulder. "I…" She paused, and then admitted, "I have no advice for you. They _really_ hate you, don't they?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yes, but it's no longer a mystery. I'd hate me, too, if I were them."

She thought for a moment, and clapped her hands together. "Look on the bright side! Now you can sneak around like Romeo and Juliet! It'll be so romantic!" She smiled, and then frowned.

"You forgot she lived in France, didn't you?" The elf boy asked.

"Yeah, it won't work so well with long-distance relationships…" His sister nodded.

The game continued.

* * *

Sam's room was hot and dark. Her bed frame was the woven branches of two trees and next to the mattress was a golden artifact floating a few centimeters over the palm leaves that served as a bedside table. The artifact was beautiful; it reflected what little light was in the room and stood out against the gothic furniture that was supported by trees in the wood faerie's bedroom. To either side were gold, sturdy leaves and floating between them was a gold circle. It spun around slowly, and it was slightly larger than Sam's head.

The circle begun to spin faster, and it released an obnoxious beeping sound. Sam—who had been lying in her bed reading—huffed and placed her hand on it. It stopped and she looked at it. Typically when that sort of thing would happen, it would be a member of the S.A.X trying to get in contact with her. This time, however, it was not a member. The circle would glow when a member contacted her, but this time, the circle caught on fire. The wood faerie jumped, falling out of her bed—which was supported a meter or so over the floor—and landing on the floor. A white, ghost-like figure flew from the artifact and landed on the floor in front of her.

It was then that the figure increased in size, taking up what little space remained in Sam's room, and it manifested. Before her stood a silver dragon, decorated with red scales, and it stared at her. Its tail flicked, and Sam could tell the heat coming from the scales was scorching her plants. There was a silence for a moment, and then a young girl's voice said, "_Samantha Knight of the S.A.X. The Human King is indebted to you for freeing him from the abandoned Xanadu Clan Base months ago. This is not the matter of which I've come to speak to you._

"_I wish for you to assist me in freeing Princess Aelita from her nightmares. I have reason to believe that here, among soldiers and her friends, her nightmares will end. However, I cannot bring her here without causing a stir. I wish for you to provide her with divine emancipation from her homely prison so I may provide the same for her nightmares._

"_There is no doubt that this task shall not be easy. Do you accept it?_" The dragon, though its mouth had not moved throughout its entire speech, tilted its head to one side, as if it was interested in Sam's response.

Sam thought for a moment. "I… don't even think I _know_ her that well. I know I saw her for a few minutes once, but…" She explained, and the dragon huffed, smoke rising from its nostrils. "But what the hell! Rather kidnap a girl I don't know than be fried by a dragon I don't know!"

The dragon closed its eyes, as if pleased. "_Very well. I, Avalon, shall bring you there._" It turned into a white, ghost-like figure again, and it squeezed through the cracks in Sam's door. The wood faerie followed it, sneaking quietly out of the Titan Wing and into the open air where Avalon manifested again. The dragon knelt and put down its wings, as if to signal Sam to climb on its back. Sam hesitated, but nevertheless, she bravely approached the dragon and climbed onto its back.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight: Courage_

"Aelita? You're dreaming… baby, wake up."

Aelita's eyes snapped open and she sat straight up. Her eyes darted around before coming to rest on her mother. The two human females looked at each other for a moment, and then Anthea smiled weakly and wiped a drop of sweat from her daughter's forehead. "Mommy…?" Aelita said, her voice quivering. Her mother made a noise of acknowledgement, and Aelita continued, "I had a bad dream…"

Anthea nodded. "I heard," She smiled. When Aelita didn't smile back, it vanished. "It was only a dream. Whatever you saw, it can't harm you now." She said, pushing Aelita's bangs away from her face.

"There were these shadows, and I was bleeding…" Her mother hushed her, took her hand, and placed a pill inside it. Anthea gave Aelita a glass of water, and the sickly human girl popped the pill into her mouth. "I was in so much pain…" She added.

Her mother hushed her again. "It was only a dream…" Anthea comforted. She kissed her daughter's forehead softly, and stood. She smoothed the blankets and smiled. "Your breakfast is on the nightstand." She said, pointing to a plate of food. "I'll be back soon enough." Her mother said, walking out of the room, closing the rotating wall behind her until it locked into place.

Aelita sighed, and she looked to the plate of food. She knocked it into the trash and then dug out the tray. The human girl looked at the tray for a moment, and then flung it against the wall. She curled her knees up to her chest and rubbed her upper arms. Her entire body was still numb from the dream. Slowly, she lowered her head to the tops of her knees.

After what felt like hours, but in reality was only minutes, she heard a tiny click. She assumed it was her mother, and she didn't move from her position. The rotating wall spun open again, and an unfamiliar voice called out, "Hey," Aelita looked up to a girl with caramel-colored skin and dark hair. The girl seemed familiar, but if she did know her, it had been so long that the human girl had forgotten who she was. The girl walked over to Aelita and asked, "Are you Aelita?"

The human girl only looked at her for a moment, but then nodded. "Good," She sighed, grabbed Aelita's wrist and pulled at her. "Okay, c'mon, before your mom shows up."

Aelita tried to yank her wrist away unsuccessfully. She struggled for a moment, but then asked, "Who are you?"

The girl shook her head and released Aelita, causing the human girl to fall backwards. "Doesn't matter." She said, crossing her arms. "Are you coming?"

The human girl huffed but nodded again, and she dragged a bag from underneath her bed. It had spare clothes inside of it, as well as some books and some money Lyna had given her on their trip back from New York. Escaping had been her plan once, and though it had never worked, she'd left the bag prepared just in case. Aelita slung the bag over her shoulder, pulled on her boots and the girl grabbed her wrist again. They walked quietly out of the room, and the girl closed the rotating wall so it seemed as if nothing had happened.

The two girls were able to quietly walked out the front door, and once the girl had closed it, she wasted no time in running as fast as she could away from Hermitage, dragging Aelita behind her. Once out the gate, the girl entered the forest, and the human she dragged expected to be nearly beaten to death by the low branches. Instead, they seemed to part for the girls, and they didn't stop running until they reached a clearing.

When the girl let go of her wrist, Aelita took a few steps back, and she was prepared to demand for answers. She stopped when she saw a dragon resting in the grass, and it didn't take long for her to recognize it. "Avalon…?" She stammered, and the dragon looked to her. It closed its eyes and nodded, and then it stood. It opened its eyes and spread its wings to show her its true size, which was awe-inspiring. Aelita stumbled over to Avalon, and she placed her hands on the dragon's scales. Quickly, she drew them back, for the scales were hot and burned, like fire.

Avalon nudged Aelita with the side of its head, and then rubbed it against her side. Aelita smiled and rubbed it behind where its ears would have been. The dragon looked to the girl, and the human girl looked to her as well. She felt the dragon nod, and nervously, the girl walked over to Aelita. She stuck out her hand and said, "Uh, hi. I'm Sam." There was a pause, and then she continued, "I'm a wood faerie."

The human girl smiled. "I'd introduce myself, but we sort of already did that." She shrugged, and she looked down to the dragon. Her smile vanished, and she looked back up to Sam. "Why did you rescue me? How did you even know where I was?"

Sam pointed to Avalon. "The, uh, dragon told me about the nightmares you were having. It asked me to rescue you, and I did so, you know, it wouldn't turn me into firewood." She explained. When Aelita laughed, she added, "Don't laugh! I was always taught, 'do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.'"

Aelita covered her mouth and stopped laughing, but she pointed out, "I'm still smiling on the inside."

"Of course you are. Your ass isn't on the list of people this dragon could potentially torch." Sam rolled her eyes as the dragon lifted its head. The wood faerie climbed onto Avalon's back, and then offered her hand down to Aelita. For a moment, the human girl merely stood there. "Are you coming?" She asked.

"Where are we going?" Aelita asked, "I didn't think you were going to take me anywhere."

Avalon adjusted its head so its red eyes were fixated on Aelita. "_We are going to the District of Columbia, where I feel you will be safe._" It spoke without moving its mouth. The dragon and the human girl's eyes were locked for a moment, but when Aelita took a step back, Avalon added, "_Do not fear; my scales shall not be so hot once we are in the air._"

Aelita's shoulders rose defensively. When she realized that she was scared, she was disappointed* in herself, and the look of fear that had spread across her face was replaced with one of determination. Her hands clenched into fists, and she marched over to Avalon's side. The human girl took Sam's hand, and the wood faerie pulled her onto the back of the dragon.

The dragon adjusted itself so it stood in the center of the clearing. It backed up, and its tail swished from one side to the other; knocking over two trees upon doing so. Avalon's scales burned hotter for a moment, and it charged. It took only a moment for the girls on the dragon's back to notice it was about to crash into a tree. Sam smirked and leaned in, but Aelita screamed, closed her eyes and gripped the wood faerie tightly.

Avalon's tail left a strange, triangle-shaped hole in the leaves, and there were what looked like bite marks left by its back paws and claws, but there were no other marks. The takeoff had been shaky because of the trees, but once the dragon was soaring over them, it was smooth sailing. "Aelita, open your eyes!" Sam shouted.

Aelita did so, and the first thing she noticed was Sam's hair billowing in her face. She ducked to avoid it, and she looked down. She could see a city, and slowly, it seemed to get smaller. The height began to make her dizzy, so she closed her eyes again.

She could feel the air rushing under her feet and blowing her hair back. It was familiar and comforting; the feeling of air rushing past her, but it also placed a heavy weight on her heart. She shook her head and pushed the thought from her mind.

* * *

By the time Avalon landed, the sun had started to set. The dragon knelt to make it easier for the girls to slide off. Aelita looked to the building they'd landed next to as Sam opened a door. The dragon took on a ghostly manifestation, and the human girl stepped away as it became smaller. When it returned to its dragon form, it was only about the height of an average-sized dog. It stood awkwardly, with its front paws and claws facing inward and its 'elbows' facing out because of it. Avalon trotted over to Aelita happily.

"Alright," Sam said, motioning for the others to go inside the building. "Go inside."

Aelita nodded and did so, Avalon trotting behind her. Once inside, Sam followed them and let the door slam. She looked to Aelita in confusion, as she stood in the center of the hallway rubbing her eyes. "_Bright,_" The human girl muttered, and the wood faerie laughed.

Sam started down the hallway. "You'll get used to it." She shrugged. She motioned for Aelita to follow her. After a while, the wood faerie thought out loud, "I guess I should probably let McPhee know you're here…"

Aelita stopped in her tracks. "McPhee?" She asked, and Sam turned to face her. "Is that what you said?"

"Yes," Sam responded. "Why? You know him?"

"Uh, sort of. Does he work for the United States' military?"

"Yeah."

"Operation Titan?"

"He oversees it."

"And Jeremy?"

"The elf boy? He's here. Somewhere."

Aelita carefully walked around Sam before running down the hall. Avalon exchanged a quick glance with Sam before running after her. The human girl recognized she had no idea where she was going, but she assumed she'd come across Jeremy eventually. She came to a glass door that marked the end of the hallway. Aelita tried to slow down but couldn't, and the door slid open before she crashed into it, and she stopped sliding. Soon after her dramatic, straight-out-of-an-action-movie entrance, Aelita caught the eyes of Jeremy.

* * *

*Her thoughts: Self, I am disappoint.

* * *

A/N: I blame the internet for my tardiness!


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine: Equal Reaction_

McPhee rubbed his temple after listening to Sam and Aelita's story. Both teen girls, as well as Jeremy, sat in his musky office, and for at least the twelfth time that week the old man told himself he was too old for that job.

Jeremy sat in front of McPhee and to the old man's left, his dark blue eyes shifting nervously. Aelita sat to the elf boy's left, cross-legged in her chair with her dragon, Avalon, resting its jaw and front paws on her right thigh with its body in the space created by her legs. Sam had been offered a chair but instead stood, leaning against the wall to McPhee's right. "So let me get this straight," The old man said as he removed his hand from his forehead. "You got here by flying on the back of that dragon right there? Avalon, if I heard right?" He asked, pointing to Avalon, who perked its head up having heard its name.

"In a nutshell," Sam shrugged. She noticed a stray stack of papers and began to flip through them.

The army general shook his head. "If I didn't see it right before my eyes, I wouldn't believe it." He looked between Aelita, Sam and Avalon quickly and asked, "That dragon couldn't carry both of you, could it?"

"It was bigger before," The wood faerie responded without skipping a beat. "_Ew;_ graphic," She commented, most likely referring to a picture in the stack of papers.

"It was bigger?" He looked to Sam, who looked back to him and nodded. "It changed size?" He asked. Looking to the dragon, he muttered, "That thing needs to be on Animal Planet or something,"

Avalon hissed, and the three spikes on the back of its head fell, like a cat's cars when it was angry. When the spikes returned to their previous state, the dragon placed its head back on Aelita's thigh. The human girl stroked it, and for a moment, the room was still. "It wouldn't be a problem, would it?" Aelita asked suddenly, "If I stayed here, I mean…" There was no immediate response, and she looked down to her dragon sheepishly.

McPhee placed his hand to his chin, thinking hard. "No, I don't think so," He said finally, causing Aelita to release the breath she had been holding. He added, "You are, after all, the Human Princess of creatures, and no offense to your parents; but I doubt they'd be able to protect you without a proper military." This was responded to with a mutter from Aelita that was something along the lines of, 'but I don't _want_ to be the Human Princess of creatures…,' to which McPhee muttered something along the lines of, 'suck it up.'

Sam had put down the papers and picked up a book when no one had been watching, and she flipped through the pages. "Princesses, as I'm sure you're aware," She said, "are notorious for being captured and held for ransom. It's sad, really."

Aelita resented that. She'd only ever been captured once; twice or quite possibly three times if she counted the squid thing that had given her false memories. And she'd never been held for ransom.

"We'll most likely give you a similar kind of protection we give our president. Your parents are one thing, being the chief monarchs, but you, as the heir, are a different matter entirely. Believe it or not, Aelita," McPhee continued, speaking in a tone of voice that suggested that he did not mean 'did you know' but _literally_ whether she believed it or not, "you are a very important person."

The human girl hung her head again and muttered something along the lines of, 'but I don't _**want**_ to be important!' Jeremy, who could hear her easily, smiled and said, "You're important to _me!_"

She looked to him for a moment and muttered, "That's different…"

McPhee turned away from the teens and wrote a note on a scrap piece of paper. He straightened his back, as if he were about to stand up, but his eyes fell to Avalon, and he bent over to write again. "Acquire fireproof dog bed…" He muttered, and then he stood. He looked to the teenagers, since even Sam had torn away from the book to look at him, and he shouted, "Well? You're dismissed!" The old man hobbled out of the room on his cane, shouting for his assistant.

* * *

"Eleven and a half centimeters," Gus announced, pulling the ruler away from Lyna's ear. "That makes your ears twenty-three centimeters together, not counting the length of your head."

The elf girl took the ruler from the wizard. "Oh, cool. I thought they were shorter than that." She said, holding the ruler in both hands. The kitchen door opened, and she saw Jeremy enter. Lyna pushed the ruler into the wizard's hands and said, "Here, measure his ears! What do you want to bet they're the same size as mine?"

Gus shrugged, walked over to Jeremy and held the ruler to the elf boy's right ear. Jeremy seemed confused for a moment, but said nothing. "No, his ears are longer than yours, actually. By, like, a centimeter and a half." The wizard said, taking the ruler away.

"You're joking. Let me see!" Lyna took the ruler from Gus and measured her brother's right ear herself. She looked at her result—thirteen centimeters—and looked to Jeremy. "You're also a centimeter and a half taller than me, aren't you?" She asked.

"I would think so." Jeremy nodded, walking past her.

"Have you—" She started, and noticed Aelita standing in the doorway. She smiled widely, "Hi, Aelita!" Lyna looked back to the elf boy. "Have you had anything to eat today? I mean, besides the muffin I forced down your throat this morning?"

Jeremy thought for a moment. "No," He finally decided on. "No, I don't think so."

Lyna sighed. "Jeremy! I swear to God, I'm going to have to tie you up, aren't I?" She turned to Aelita to ask her if she agreed, paused, and then exclaimed, "You're too skinny, too! Did _you_ eat today?"

Aelita blinked. "I—I've been on a dragon all day…" She mumbled, and the dragon at her feet looked up to her.

"My _God!_ What is _with_ you people?" The elf girl shouted. She ranted for a few minutes, and Aelita knelt down and rubbed Avalon's head. When Lyna finally stopped shouting, the human girl noticed Jeremy holding an apple out to her. She took it from him, and he sat down next to her. He bit into his own apple, but she merely weighed it in both hands.

The elf boy watched her for a moment, and then said, "If you don't eat something soon, your metabolism is going to crash."

She shrugged. "I know," The human girl thought for a moment, "Why is she on your tail about eating?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy blinked. "Uh… no reason, really*. Just lost some weight…" He murmured the last part, and then pointed to Aelita's apple. "You really are too skinny. Eat your goddamn apple."

* * *

*Liar!

* * *

A/N: Man, I feel as if I missed an asterisk, but if I did, my computer isn't saying! Anyway, happy Martin Luther King's Day! I hate the son of a bitch who shot that guy.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten: Thirteen Digits_

"_Ah!_ God dammit, Avalon!"

Aelita's eyes snapped open. She had no memory of being asleep, but she must've fallen asleep at some point because one minute she was snuggled as close as she could get next to Jeremy with Avalon at her feet, and the next she was alone. She couldn't see and turned on the light. Jeremy stood on the other side of the room, still wearing his pajama shirt but had switched his pajama pants for his everyday pants. Avalon stood at his feet, and the dragon seemed less than amused. The elf boy rubbed his eyes under his glasses and looked to the human girl. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" He asked, opening one of his drawers.

"No," Aelita lied, rolling out of his bed and walking over to her dragon. "What… time is it?" She asked, her eyes locked on Jeremy's back.

"Adventure time," He joked, and then he looked to the clock as he pulled his turtleneck from the drawer. "It's about seven A.M." He said seriously, and he looked back to the drawer to close it.

Aelita smiled, and she stroked Avalon's head. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, looking at the dragon but talking to both Avalon and Jeremy. Avalon nodded, but the human girl couldn't tell if Jeremy had responded. She looked up, but as soon as she did so, something blue blocked her vision.

She pulled it from her face to see it was Jeremy's turtleneck. "Will you hold that for a second?" He asked, closing the drawer he'd opened. Aelita nodded, and she watched the elf boy while she waited for him to ask for his shirt back. He unbuttoned his pajama shirt and folded it, and then opened a different drawer to put it in. The human girl looked away from him for a second, but then looked back to him, confused. "Thanks" He said, holding out his hand for the turtleneck.

Aelita handed it to him, but asked, "What's on your neck?" Jeremy stopped cold, but otherwise said nothing. The human girl stood and brushed his blond hair away from his neck, and she recited, "EHYK1821305-NH…" She shook her head and took her hand off his neck, and in response, he pulled the turtleneck over his head. "What's that mean? And what is it, anyway?"

Jeremy didn't respond right away, and when he did, he mumbled in a voice so low the human girl was unable to understand what he had said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet, which were still bare. The elf boy avoided Aelita's eyes at first, but when their eyes met, he smiled in a pitifully sheepish way that almost made the human girl forget why she was waiting for his response. "I'm waiting, Jeremy." She pointed out impatiently.

He sighed. "Why is it so important to you?" He demanded.

"Don't you know better than to answer a question with a question?" She snapped.

"I didn't! You said, 'I'm waiting, Jeremy.' There was no question!" He stated.

That was true, but there was no way Aelita was going to admit that. "I was waiting for the answer to my question!"

"Aelita, it doesn't matter!"

"What doesn't matter? My question or that thing on your neck?"

"Both! Neither! _I don't know!_"

They were arguing at that point, and the two teenagers looked away from each other. There was a long moment of silence, and then the elf boy rubbed the back of his neck. "It's, uh, it's a tattoo. But, really, it's no big deal…"

Aelita blinked, and she asked, "Why did you get a tattoo?"

"Uh…"

"And what do the numbers mean?"

"Um…"

"Did it hurt?"

"…only about as much as a needle injecting permanent ink into my skin…"

"Did you know it was going to hurt?"

"…I had an idea…"

"If you knew it was going to hurt, I ask you again, _why_ did you get it?"

"Uh…"

"Why do I get the distinct feeling you're hiding something from me?"

Jeremy looked up at the ceiling, and then back to Aelita. "Look here, Junior Detective! It's none of your goddamn business!" He said before walking out of the room.

Aelita followed the elf boy with her eyes, and she huffed. She stood, and she held her arms towards Avalon. The dragon hopped up into her arms, and she followed the elf boy into the observation deck. Yumi smiled and waved her over, and the human girl sat down with her. "Good morning!" Yumi greeted, and the demigoddess waved to Avalon.

"Good morning," Aelita murmured, and the dragon moved from Aelita's lap to the spot in-between her and the chair. The human girl looked from Yumi to Jeremy quickly and then back to Yumi, and she whispered, "Has Jeremy been acting… strange?"

Yumi thought for a moment, but then nodded, "I suppose you could say 'strange,' but it's not really his fault." She blinked, but then asked, "Why? What tipped you off?"

The human girl was unsure what Yumi meant at first, so she said, "He was just being really defensive about his tattoo, and I just feel like he's not being truthful with me."

The demigoddess nodded again. "We were tipped off by his broken glasses, the fact he hadn't bathed in months and the tears in the back of his shirt left by being whipped repeatedly. There was also the fact he wouldn't eat when anyone else was eating, he'd dropped nearly twenty-one pounds and… there's just so much that had changed about him." Yumi sighed. "The tattoo you saw is his legal identification. If someone sees it they're supposed to call the C.R.S to report him so he'll be dragged right back to where he was. McPhee has his number frozen so he can be reported without being dragged back, but the poor guy's still has to _live_ with it."

Aelita looked at Yumi strangely for a long time. "I… don't understand,"

"He was forced into _slavery,_ Aelita. A new law made it legal or something. Whatever happened between the time the C.R.S picked him up and when we met again a few weeks ago I'm not sure about, but I can tell you this—it couldn't have been good." Yumi said bluntly.

"That can't be true. I mean, who would see that as a good idea?"

"I don't know. I think they might be repealing the law since the death toll only went up, not down like they thought, but even if they do that he still won't be allowed to get rid of the tattoo because they'll probably be given to all creatures. You know, to keep tabs on them and all that."

"_Muffin time!_" Someone shouted, and Aelita caught a muffin that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Lyna walked between Yumi and Aelita, and then she pointed to the human girl and said, "Nice catch, Shrimpy."

"_Who?_" Aelita asked. The more time she spent with her creature friends, the more confused she got.

"Shrimpy," Lyna shrugged, smiling. "I thought of it just now. Isn't it perfect?"

Aelita blinked. "I have _no_ clue what you're talking about, Lyna…"

Lyna rolled her eyes. "Your _nickname._ I've been trying to think of one for you since _forever!_" The elf girl explained, "And Shrimpy is perfect! Because you're short, you've got pink hair and you live in the water."

There was a pause. "Lyna, Aelita doesn't live in water," Yumi finally pointed out.

"Not _yet!_" Lyna said, and she laughed. "Ha, ha, it's funny because… you know what? Never mind," She waved the other girls off. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Aelita wasn't aware your brother was a slave," The demigoddess explained.

"Yumi, he wasn't a slave, he was a _bondservant,_"

"What's the difference?"

"God if I know. That's what B.B. said. I told him straight up that he can sugarcoat that shit as much as he wanted but it wouldn't make it any better and it wouldn't make his master less of a motherfucker."

The two creature girls laughed, but the human girl looked down to Avalon. The dragon looked up to Aelita and rubbed its skull against her arm for comfort. "Why didn't he tell me that?" Aelita asked as she looked from Avalon to Yumi and Lyna.

"I don't know. Boys are weird," Lyna shrugged. She paused for a moment, and then added, "I still think he should've called me."

The girls fell silent for a moment, and then Yumi pointed to Avalon and said, "Gus has a dragon harness and a saddle somewhere. Needless to say, he doesn't have anything to do with it, so I'll bet he'd give it to you if you ask him." She thought for a moment. "It might be a little big for Avalon, but a jinx might fix that."

Aelita laughed bitterly. "Why would I need a harness and saddle for Avalon? Do you have something planned?" She asked.

Yumi shrugged. "No, but you never know. You're going to be cooped up in the Titan Wing whenever the Xanadu attacks, and unless you've got plans for what to do, learning to ride a dragon is bound to be interesting."

Lyna tapped the human girl's arm encouragingly. "C'mon, Shrimpy, it'll be fun!" The elf girl smiled, and she looked to Jeremy. "Did you eat your muffin?" She shouted.

Jeremy turned around in the chair he sat in. "Not yet," He said as the chair turned around again.

"_Asshole!_ I told you to _eat_ it!" She shouted at him. "Do you _listen_ when I talk to you?"

The elf boy turned in his chair again. "Enough to know that the three of you just got done talking about me. Thanks a lot, by the way!" The last part was sarcastic.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven: Malevolent_

Gus'* bedroom had a desk next to the entrance, a bookshelf against the east wall and a chest pushed up against the end of the bed. The bed had a dark red blanket on it, and underneath the blanket were white sheets. There was a skull on the desk, apparently serving as a paperweight, but other than that, there seemed to be no abnormal items in the room that would jump out or move around when approached, like one would expect from a room inhabited by a teenager who dealt with enchantments. Nevertheless, Aelita entered the room with caution. She glanced around for the wizard, but he was nowhere in sight. Avalon trotted over to the chest and used it as a stepstool to hop onto the bed. The dragon felt the blanket with its paws carefully, and then curled up, as if taking a nap. The human girl approached the dragon, or more of the bookshelf, and she jumped when she noticed that one of Avalon's eyes was still open.

Slightly unnerved, Aelita looked to the bookshelf. The books that lined it were all about the same height and width when it came to size, and they were grey, red or purple when it came to their covers. If she hadn't been looking closely, the human girl would've dismissed every book but one, thinking they all contained the same information. She looked at them more carefully and noticed that they were very different indeed.

The grey and purple books seemed mostly benevolent in nature, though they seemed to cover different aspects of what was generally referred to as 'white magic.' The red books all dealt with malevolent magic, and seemed to be a set of books that dealt with 'black magic,' the opposite of white magic.

One grey book, however, did not fit in with the other grey and purple books. Instead of black text—like the other grey books—or a very dark shade of purple or red text—like the red and purple books—on the spine, it was a darker shade of grey, and there were no letters. Instead, the dark grey formed four lines across the spine, two at the top and two at the bottom. The bottom two lines were higher up than the lines at the top, forming a square between them and the edge of the spine. Inside of the square… Aelita squinted, but she couldn't see it clearly. She pulled it from the shelf and looked at the cover, which made her heart skip a beat.

Drawn on the cover was a pentagram. The point used to determine if it was a satanic or a Wiccan symbol faced down, meaning whatever it contained, it wasn't the preferred Wiccan kind of magic. Aelita found it hard to believe that her quiet wizard friend was a follower of the Devil.

Until she flipped through the pages and realized that he wasn't. The book contained little magic incantations, and all of the ones it did were charms to ward of demonic manifestations or curses. The rest of the book contained information on Hell, Satan, signs of demonic possessions and ways to exorcise demons without harming the possessed person.

The human girl sighed with relief, and she turned to Avalon, showing the dragon the book. "I actually thought Gus was satanic for a second! I'm glad I looked!" She smiled.

"Aelita."

The voice hadn't come from Avalon, nor did it come from herself, and it caused the human girl to jump, dropping the book on the floor. She looked to Gus with a shocked expression on her face, and the wizard bent over to pick up the book. "You scared me! I didn't hear you come in," Aelita sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Gus looked to the human girl oddly. "I didn't realize I had to make my presence known when entering my own room," He said, placing the book on the shelf beneath the one where he stored his books.

Aelita shook her head. "You don't have to do that," She said, watching Gus as he opened his chest and began to dig through it. "I only said that you scared me." The human girl added, lifting Avalon off the bed. The dragon attempted to make itself as heavy as possible, but only seemed to have its legs dangling stiffly around Aelita's arms. "Oh, Avalon, will you stop that?"

"_Place me back on the bed, if you will,_" The dragon said in its way, eyeing Aelita intensely.

The human girl shifted with the dragon and the held it like a baby in her arms. "Gus, Yumi said you had a dragon harness and saddle?" She said, ignoring Avalon.

The wizard nodded. "Yes, she told me that she'd told you. That's what I'm looking for."

"_I wish for you to put me down right this instant._" Avalon demanded, squirming in Aelita's arms.

"You'll only mess up Gus' bed!" The human girl protested.

Gus rolled his eyes. "Aelita, just put it down. It's a fucking _dragon._ Don't forget that they've got firepower." He said, and Aelita released Avalon. The dragon hopped out of her arms and curled up once again on the wizard's bed. The wizard placed several magical objects on his bed as he dug through the chest. The human girl positioned herself over him as he did so, but inside the chest, she only saw darkness. Gus began to pull out something red, and it must've been heavy, because as he pulled it out slowly. In doing so, the red object first looked like eyes in the darkness. Aelita saw a shadow from her nightmares in the chest, and she shivered with fear. She backed away from the wizard and his chest.

Gus looked at her as he continued to pull out the object. He then looked into the chest. The object no longer looked like eyes, but for some reason, the red-on-darkness him uneasy as well. He dropped the object and stood. "This may take longer than originally thought," He said to Aelita, who snapped back to reality when he spoke to her. The wizard pulled out the chair at his desk. He moved the skull and the papers it had been holding down. He then grabbed plain white paper from a drawer and handed the human girl a pen that wrote in green, purple, black, orange, blue and red ink. "Here; doodle. Or write. Or play Hangman. I don't really care."

Aelita looked from Gus to the pen, and she sat down in the chair. The wizard went back to the chest, and the human girl stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of her. She'd never really drawn much in her lifetime, and her writing was typically confined to her diary. She liked reading much more than she liked writing or drawing, but the only thing Gus had in his room to read other than spell books was the book on Hell, and the human girl had a feeling nothing in that book was going to help her nightmares any.

Slowly, the human girl summoned the tip for the black ink. She scribbled outlines and then filled most of the shape in. She summoned the red ink tip to fill in the remainder. She scribbled the outlines for text with the red ink and then filled it in with the black. Unsatisfied by that, she scribbled red ink dripping from the letters into tiny pools near the bottom of the page.

Meanwhile, Gus had finally found the harness and saddle, and he compared the shape of the harness to Avalon's head. It reminded him of the ones put on horses in old movies, only the eye holes would allow the dragon to see. "Will this fit you?" He asked, and he nodded. The wizard placed it next to Avalon on the bed and held his hands over it. It started to shrink, and he fitted it over the dragon's skull. "How's that?"

Avalon merely nodded. "Open your mouth," Gus said, and the dragon did so easily. He muttered something, tapped the harness, and then removed it. It grew to its original size. "You can change sizes, so this should fit you no matter what. The saddle I don't think I'll bother with. Yet, I mean. There's no telling if I'll have to adjust it so Aelita will fit…" The wizard placed his thumb, middle and forefinger on his forehead. He shook his head and swept the magical objects he didn't need back into the chest. "Aelita, I found it," He said, walking over to his desk and peering over the human girl's head to see what she'd drawn. He muttered something again, surprised.

"I'm glad," The human girl turned and smiled, oblivious. She stood and smiled at her dragon. "Come on, Avalon. We have to find someplace to put the harness and saddle, don't we?" She laughed and started walking towards the bed, but Gus placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "What is it?" Aelita asked innocently as her dragon bounded over to the teens.

Gus didn't respond right away. What Aelita had drawn hadn't been what he'd expected at all. There were multiple explanations for why she'd gotten so unnerved by the red object in the darkness, but he hadn't expected the explanation evident by what she'd drawn. The wizard picked up the paper and approached the bookshelf. He placed the paper next to the book he'd left out and opened the book to a random page. Gus then flipped through the pages until reaching a diagram that resembled what the human girl had drawn on her paper. He read the page next to it, and then held it out to Aelita. "Is this what you drew in this picture?" He asked.

The human girl approached him and the book, but she didn't have to get very close before she backed away from it. She said nothing, but nodded.

Gus looked from the book to Aelita several times. The wizard skimmed the page and then flipped to the next while keeping the diagrammed page marked. "Dark Shadows," He murmured.

"What did you say?" Aelita asked, and the wizard realized that she was too far away to hear him clearly.

"Dark Shadows," He repeated louder, and the human girl merely looked at him. "They're, uh, demons. Sort of."

"Isn't 'Dark Shadows' sort of redundant?" She asked with a laugh.

"This isn't funny, Aelita." Gus said, marking the page in the book with the drawing. "If these things are haunting your dreams, they pose the risk of materializing. And trust me, if they materialize, it won't be fun for anyone."

"Gus, I think you're blowing this way out of proportion…"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. They're just dreams. They can only hurt me there, and when I'm sleeping. Besides, I didn't have one last night…"

"Is that because you were with Jeremy?"

She paused. "I suppose…" She murmured with her head down.

"He and Avalon probably created a sense of security."

"So if he and Avalon stick around, I'm fine. I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this."

"Aelita, you really have no idea why we're here, do you?"

The human girl folded her arms. "Jeremy said something about being an informant and a soldier for the United States' military." She said.

The wizard blinked in confusion, remembered the elf boy saying something about visiting Aelita when the area of France she lived in was under attack, and realized that he must've relayed that particular bit of information to her. "Washington D.C, since it is the capital of the United States, is a prime target for Xanadu attacks. We give the U.S advice for taking down the Xanadu Clan and fight when it's necessary. When we are fighting, none of us are going to be here at night. Avalon will still be with you, but that won't be enough to stop the nightmares." He said, moving towards the door.

Aelita moved to the door also. "What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Well, Jeremy wasn't enough, was he?" He countered. The human girl huffed out of aggravation. "If last night was the only night where you weren't attacked with a nightmare, then it gives me reason to believe that it takes both of them to stop the Dark Shadows. Since Jeremy has a duty to protect the Xanadu from concurring D.C, we need to take care of the nightmares before _they_ take care of _you._" The wizard left the room.

The human girl grabbed the dragon harness and saddle before chasing Gus. Avalon followed her.

* * *

*Apologies for the asterisk after the first word, but I felt like mentioning that this is not grammatically correct. Since 'Gus' is a proper noun, there should be another 's' after the apostrophe. But I like the one 's' better.

* * *

A/N: And we get to the significance of the nightmares! =D Actually, I shouldn't be so excited… this series tends to have bad moments that just get worse… D=


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter Twelve: In the Dark of the Night_

"Where are you going?" Aelita demanded an answer from Gus as they left his room and entered the hallway.

The wizard turned to face her. "You're in danger. I plan to tell McPhee so we can _help_ you." He reasoned, taking the dragon harness and saddle from her.

At first, the human girl was angry, but then realized who he planned to tell. "Aren't you going to tell Jeremy?" The wizard looked at her strangely. "Don't look at me like that! It's usually what people do when I don't tell him things!"

Gus shook his head. "Yeah, give him _another_ thing to worry about, why don't you… at this rate he'll have grey hair before he turns fifteen…" He said, rubbing his temples. "I don't plan to run this behind his back, obviously, but I don't plan to tell him you're in danger until you're, you know, _not,_ anymore."

Aelita thought about that for a moment. "How about we just don't tell him period? My bet goes on he'll be mad at us for not telling him sooner…" She offered.

"What kind of girlfriend are _you,_ keeping secrets from him all the time?" He asked sarcastically.

"I only keep things secret if I know they'll make him mad," She pointed out, arms crossed. She then added, "He got short with me this morning, and I still feel awful…"

"You _also_ found out he was a slave, so you could just feel guilty."

"Well, if this is guilt, I sure don't like it."

"Who in their right mind _does?_"

"From what I've heard, _Jeremy,_"

"Okay, two things. One, he doesn't like being guilty, he's just got a really short fuse and from what he's been through, he's totally justified to go off without a moment's notice. Two, he's not in his right mind."

They laughed. "It's funny because it's true!" Aelita said, and the two started off for the observation deck, where McPhee was. Suddenly, someone rushed by emitting an ear-piercing 'eeeee*' sound. They ran past the teens again in the opposite direction. "Was that Lyna?" The human girl asked.

"Yeah," Gus nodded. "I think she broke the sound barrier as she ran _by—ah!_" The wizard tripped over something, and when he looked, he saw Jeremy sitting against the wall, rubbing his head next to his ears. "Jeremy! What the fuck are you doing, man?"

The elf boy groaned, and he complained, "Make her _stop…_" He shook his head and added, "She's been doing that for _half an hour._ She's giving me an ear infection and it _hurts!_"

"How is she giving you an ear infection? What, did she cut your ear and put a virus in it of something?" Aelita asked, completely serious.

Jeremy merely groaned as Lyna ran by, once in one direction, and again in the other. "Someone stick a foot out and _trip_ her, _please!_" He begged.

Gus looked to the human girl. "It's not that kind of infection," He said, "Jeremy and Lyna have really sensitive hearing, and noises like the one she's making play Hell on their ears." The wizard looked back to the elf boy. "Dude, I'm sorry. That must hurt like first-time fuck…"

"I don't even know why she's doing it. For all I know, she's just doing it for the sake of doing it!" Jeremy said. "If that's the case, then she's a total bitch!" He groaned as his sister ran by again. "I'm begging you, _stick your foot out and trip her ass!_"

"With my luck, she'd drag me along with her if I did that…"Aelita muttered.

The 'eeeee' sound came into earshot, and when he could see Lyna, Gus stuck out his foot. As expected, the elf girl tripped over it, but instead of being angry like she normally would have been, she jumped up, began to bounce and continued to emit the sound. "**Daaaaah!**** It's even **worse** up **close!**" The elf boy screamed.

Aelita looked to Gus. "ʻDaaaaah'?" She asked.

The wizard shrugged. "Maybe he can't say 'damn' because of the pain," He said.

"Lyna! For the love of **God,** _shut the fuck up!_" The elf boy shouted. His sister complied, but wore a giddy grin upon her face and continued to bounce up and down. After a few seconds, Jeremy asked, "What?"

Lyna didn't respond right away, but when she did, she said, "Mom's totally PG!"

"Is she in a movie?" Her brother asked.

The elf girl stopped bouncing. "I asked the same thing you did, but Dad didn't get it," She said. "No, there's no movie. Mom's pregnant!" She began to bounce again, and she was clearly resisting the urge to emit the 'eeeee' sound. "I'm so excited! I was so sure Mom and Dad wouldn't want kids after _us!_"

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "I don't see your point. We turned out great." He said sarcastically.

Lyna shook her head. "We weren't easy to raise, B.B…"

"Well, no duh. Raising creature kids in a world where creatures aren't supposed to exist proved that… not that the kind of world we were raised in exists anymore…"

"You're killing my excitement."

"You killed my eardrums."

The elf girl took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and released it. She then became ecstatic again, and she asked, "But, anyway! Do you know what this means?"

"Yeah; it means Mom and Dad were getting sticky while we were out." The elf boy said.

Lyna placed a hand on her forehead. "Thank you, for the mental image of our parents hitting it," His sister thanked him sarcastically.

He shrugged. "Well, you and I both know that's what happened."

"Yeah, I know. But it's not what I was talking about."

"Then what were you talking about?"

"We _finally_ get to find out what happens when a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist reproduce!"

Aelita waved her hands back and forth. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up for a second! A what and a what?" She asked, confused.

"A brain surgeon and a rocket scientist," Lyna repeated. "Dad's a travelling brain surgeon and Mom's a rocket scientist from her computer."

The human girl blinked. "I thought your mom was a stay-at-home mom!"

The creatures stared at her for a minute, and then laughed. "Yeah, right! Kya would go _nuts,_" Gus said.

"If I recall, it was good enough for _your_ mom," Jeremy pointed out to the wizard.

Gus stopped laughing. "That's different," He said. "My mother is a B.O.W."

Aelita looked to the creatures. "Your mother is a bow?"

"It's an acronym. It stands for 'bitch on wheels.'" The elf boy answered.

"Oh," The human girl blinked again. Offended, she placed her hands on her hips and shouted, "_Your_ mother's a bitch? What about _my_ mother?"

While the elves were surprised at Aelita's sudden curse, Gus merely shrugged. "Fine; your mom's a bitch, too."

"Thank you," Aelita crossed her arms and looked off into space.

After a moment of silence, Lyna looked back to Jeremy. "But, oh, my God, we're going to be older siblings! This is so exciting!"

"I already am an older sibling," Jeremy pointed out, "But, otherwise, I agree; this is very exciting."

"Yeah, you're only older than me by two months. But we're older than the baby by fourteen years! Oh, I can't wait to teach them stuff, like how to ride a bike, how to shoot an arrow, how to make cherry bombs…"

"Oh, you are _not_ teaching the baby how to make cherry bombs. Not until we know it won't, like, _eat_ them or something."

Gus pushed past the elfin siblings. "Not that this isn't interesting or anything, but I have some important information to relay to McPhee." He said. Jeremy opened his mouth to say something, but then he and Lyna both seemed to space out, their long ears pointed up more, listening. "What is it, boy?" Gus asked Jeremy.

The elf boy flipped the wizard off, but then he stood. "I'm guessing you heard that, too?" He asked the elf girl.

"Yuppers," Lyna nodded. They stood there for a second, and then she looked to the wizard and said, "Forget whatever you have to tell McPhee and go get ready, alright?" The elves ran into their bedrooms, and ran out several seconds later. Jeremy had exchanged what he had been wearing for a hooded sweatshirt the same color as his turtleneck, as well as longer pants the same color as the ones he had been wearing held up by a blue belt with guns holsters attached to it.

Lyna's outfit change was a bit more dramatic, especially considering how fast she'd done it. She wore a white t-shirt with a red and blue geometric design around the sleeves and the hem. She wore jeans and a red belt, as well as twin tomahawks around her legs held by bands with the same geometric pattern as her shirt. She still wore her Star of David necklace. She and her brother conversed for a second, and then ran off in separate directions.

Jeremy ran over to Aelita, grabbed her wrist and then ran in the same direction Lyna had gone. Avalon chased the teens, and Gus dropped the dragon harness and saddle he'd been holding and ran back into his room. The elf boy stepped aside as the other creatures ran out of the observation deck, and then he pushed the human girl into it. Her dragon stood under her feet.

Aelita blinked, trying to comprehend what was going on. Behind her, she could hear the teenage creatures conversing, and then running down the hallway. "What's going on?" She asked McPhee and Madeline eventually, still confused.

"Well, I would assume that the Xanadu has launched an attack," McPhee said.

She thought for a minute. "That…" She finally spoke. "…would make sense."

The glass door opened, and someone kissed Aelita's cheek. "See you later," Jeremy said, running out as quickly as he'd come. Aelita's face turned a shade of pink that was darker than her hair.

"Aw," Madeline sighed. "That was cute."

The human girl huffed and sat down, rubbing Avalon's head. The dragon plopped down on the floor next to her, and it rolled over so the human girl could rub on its belly. She smiled, and did as the dragon wanted.

It was then that, somewhere far away, something howled. The lights flickered, and then went out. The darkness didn't bother Aelita until she realized that the doors were electrically powered. "Oh, _please_ tell me we aren't stuck in this room in the dark." She said.

"Okay, then; I won't." McPhee said.

In the darkness next to Aelita, she watched two eye-shaped red lights appear. She shrieked, and she jumped up. "It's the Dark Shadows!" She shouted. "Gus was right!" Avalon spewed a long stream of fire, lighting up the room for a moment. The human girl laughed nervously. "Oh,"

For a minute, there was no noise. "What in the hell is a Dark Shadow?" The old man asked.

* * *

*This is how you spell 'Eevee' if you replace the 'v' with another 'e.' What can I say? In addition to being a Code Lyoko freak, I'm a Pokégeek. I also think elfin Jeremy, Link, Legolas and saxophones are super sexy. _Especially_ saxophones. I'm in the opinion that Jeremy, Link and Legolas should start a blond elves' saxophone club, and there should _totally_ be some Eevees there. - Completely relevant ^^

* * *

**Oddly enough, when I try to picture Jeremy making this sound, I hear Jenny (a.k.a X-J9) from '_My Life as a Teenage Robot_'.

* * *

A/N: To sum up the thing about the baby, it comes from one of the early versions for '_Live Free or Die._' It was after the one where Jeremy and Lyna had artificial human forms but before the one you've obviously read, and in that version Jeremy and Lyna had a younger half-sister named Zelda. I edited her out because she served no real purpose, but I was going through some of my early sketches for Lyna and found one of Zelda. Regardless of whether or not the baby is a boy or a girl, because I haven't decided yet, I put this in because the ghost of Zelda is haunting me. I'm serious!


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter Thirteen: Targeted_

Madeline had acquired a multitude of small candles, and Avalon had lit them. The observation deck was illuminated in a red-orange light, and Aelita had crawled underneath the machine at the window. Her dragon was curled around her, and she pulled her knees up to cover her mouth. The dragon purred to the human girl in hopes of comforting her, but she didn't really notice. "_Your personality has changed dramatically over these past few hours,_" Avalon spoke to Aelita telekinetically, and the human girl looked to it. "_Is something bothering you?_"

Aelita tilted her head, and then shook it. "No…" She said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Avalon nudged her thigh knowingly, and it purred again. The human girl sighed, but otherwise remained silent. After a long time, she added, "I'm really okay, Avalon." This proved less than satisfactory for Avalon, and it circled her, as if it was trying to discover an angle of which would provoke the human girl to tell it what was wrong. Aelita relaxed her knees, allowing her dragon to access her stomach. Avalon poked her stomach with one of her claws, and then moved to poke the soles of Aelita's feet. It moved again to poke the palms of the human girl's hands. "Will you _stop_ poking me already?" She demanded.

"_Please convey to me what troubles you._" The dragon sat down. It sat in a noble way, like lion statues did outside of important buildings. Its face seemed narrower and more elegant. Avalon curled its tail around its legs.

"What's there to tell? I'm fine. _Stop pestering me!_" The human girl brought her knees up to her mouth again, and while she'd tried to come off sounding mad, she sounded more upset than she did angry. Avalon tilted its head, and it flapped its wings to win back her attention. Aelita's hair blew in one direction due to the wind the dragon had accidentally created and she moved her head so her knees covered her eyes, but she otherwise didn't react. The dragon remained motionless, and the human girl glanced to it.

For a long time, there was no sound between the two. McPhee's snore interrupted the silence, but it continued afterwards as if nothing had happened. "_You seem upset._" Avalon finally spoke, inching closer. The human girl sighed, and the dragon hoped it meant that she'd given up.

Aelita didn't speak at first, but when she did, she only seemed more upset. "I don't know. I'm worried, I guess. A little mad, too, since I just got here yesterday and he's already gone again…" She sighed. "Not to mention all he's been through. I mean, he was _literally_ a slave and I didn't even _know,_ignoring the fact there was nothing I could do about it! I can't even imagine what it must've been like for him…" The human girl began to sulk.

"_But none of that was your fault…_"

"I'm not so sure, really."

"_Pardon?_"

"Well, take right now for instance. I'm beginning to think they attacked because they know I'm here."

"_Plausible, but improbable._"

"You sound _so_ sure…"

"_Regardless of your influence, your friends have experience dealing with the Xanadu and their attacks. I doubt this battle will amount to anything more than a retreat._"

The human girl smiled. "Knowing them, they'd probably call it advancing in the opposite direction." She joked.

* * *

Like one might expect, real war was nothing like war in movies. In movies, directors didn't care for the mental trauma so much as they cared for the violence sure to make a quick buck. This is not to say they were completely different, but at the moment, the elf boy was particularly annoyed with the special-effect explosions movies used. In the case of this particular battle, the Xanadu had opted to use several homemade explosives, but they weren't powerful enough to cause even the most defenseless of soldiers more than first-degree burns. However, like most bombs, there was a brief moment before the explosion where there was absolutely no noise. Some war movies had that fact down, but those were few and far between, and the explosion were always much more powerful.

Regardless of war movies, the Xanadu had chosen creatures of the night, which was sensible, as creatures of the night had higher endurance and strength. But it was sensible as it was stupid; due to the fact most—not all, but most—creatures of the night also had the attention span of a goldfish.

But the memory of an elephant, he reminded himself bitterly. The elf boy knew that if you managed to distract a night creature and it lived, it would most likely kill you. He felt around for the laser pointer he'd found earlier and shined it on one of the Xanadu soldier's head. The werewolf standing next to the unlucky soldier became distracted and dug its claws into its partner's head. This caused the laser to shine on the werewolf's back, and several other night creatures pounced for it.

The sight was gruesome, but amusing in its own way. He clicked of the laser pointer and waited for the remaining night creature to realize it was gone. The elf boy pulled out his gun and shot the confused enemy.

At this point, Jeremy was continuing only on the adrenaline that, when paired with his increased heartbeat, seemed to make the world spin slower. It never ceased to amaze him what was capable when the body was in survival mode…

His ears perked up, not from a strange sound but the lack of it. He'd noticed it too late and an explosion shook the building he'd taken cover on top of. It was the third or fourth explosion focused on that particular building, and either it was an important building or the Xanadu was aware that the elf boy was on the roof.

Though he was unsure about the exact number of explosions the building had endured, the most recent had weakened it considerably and Jeremy crashed through the roof, rubble tumbling onto his skull. He muttered something about how his entrance would've brought down his average had any of his friends been there, and then tried to ignore the bells in his head that most likely meant he was suffering from a concussion. He stood up, realized how disoriented he was, and stumbled. Jeremy shook his head—probably worsening his head injury—and looked for an exit. He noticed a fire escape.

He looked up to the ceiling and prayed silently that the Xanadu hadn't set it on fire. How, he wouldn't have known, but it would've been ironic and that was the only reason they would've done it. Since he was hydrokinetic, an on-fire fire escape wasn't much of an issue for him, but it was such a terrible joke that he hoped he wouldn't have to deal with it. The elf boy guessed that, according to his track record of possessing a temper that usually got the better of him, he would seek out the person who spawned such a pun and the _bitch_ would _have_ to _die._*

Nevertheless, he staggered over to the fire escape—to his relief, it was not on fire—and he rushed down it. It seemed brighter than it had been when he'd last been out in the open—'open' here being the relative term—and Jeremy assumed that the sun was rising, or at least about to rise. He shook his head, realizing that he must've been knocked unconscious or something of the like without noticing.

The elf boy noticed that the streets had fallen still, thus concluding that the Xanadu had too many living soldiers left to lose most of them to sunlight, and had retreated. They had gotten to close for comfort to the government building where the Titan Wing was located, but more importantly, where Aelita was hiding out. The elf boy was too worried about her to go too far away.

Jeremy stretched, and he started back for the base. He was tired, but not nearly as worried as he had been—he hadn't gone far in his opinion, but he'd gone far enough for the walk back to be a drag, and he had no reason to believe that the Xanadu would've taken the time to attack a building they weren't even sure contained their target. The power started up again, and he noticed his head didn't hurt as much as it had been.

When he reached the base, the elf boy realized that the door had been ripped off of its hinges and tossed aside. Not surprisingly, Jeremy became both annoyed and panicked.

* * *

"This," Aelita said as she rubbed her left eye, "has got to be the _longest_ night of my life."

The candles had gone out, but the observation deck had been engulfed by natural light. Avalon had fallen asleep hours earlier, but the human girl was still awake. Sure, she'd pulled all-nighters before, but nights of war were always longer, and since she knew her friends were out fighting in it, her anxiety proved to be an _excellent_sleep combater. It wasn't like she would've wanted to sleep, anyway, she reminded herself.

The electricity sputtered back to life, and Aelita stretched her legs. "Finally!" She exclaimed. For a moment, she was actually glad Jeremy wasn't there, because her pale, thin legs sticking out from under the machine would've looked pretty strange. She scolded herself for being glad he was risking his life just so he wouldn't see her doing something subconscious.

She crawled out from under the machine, closed her eyes and stretched again. The human wondered if the battle was over, and if it was, how long she would have before Jeremy would get back. She hoped that he, as well as her other friends, would be back soon, but she also hoped that she would have enough time to take a shower before the elf boy in particular returned. Aelita had spent all night underneath the machine in the observation deck with her heat sack of a dragon, but she didn't want to _smell_ like that. Her eyes still closed, she heard the automatic doors open.

Aelita opened her eyes to see the _ugliest_man she'd ever seen less than five centimeters from her face. He wore a hideous, cruel grin on his dirty, abnormally colored face—she was having trouble deciding if it was orange or green—and he smelled of blood and body odor. His breath alone smelled of flesh. He had thin hair a color that, like his skin, the human girl had trouble identifying. On top of his other unbecoming features, his was also an alarming lot taller than her, but he possessed a body type similar to Marty**. That alone was enough to convince Aelita that the man wasn't particularly dangerous.

Because she wasn't afraid of him, her first instinct was to take her arms from their overhead position left by stopping mid-stretch to cover her mouth and nose, both of which were burning from his awful smell. She barely started the motion when the man grabbed her wrists. He probably didn't mean to, but upon doing so, he jerked the human girl's arms, and it made her shoulders hurt. She'd been standing flat-footed on the floor, but he'd lifted her up so the tips of her toes barely skimmed the tile.

It was at this point that Aelita became afraid. She tried to scream, but before she could, he covered her mouth. A few pieces of dead skin were scraped off by her teeth and fell into her mouth. He seemed like he was going to say something, but became distracted by something behind her. He took his hand off her mouth, placed a single finger on her lips as the universal sign for 'hush' and rolled a sphere underneath the machine. The human girl couldn't see, but she knew that the sphere had probably rendered Avalon unable to help her.

The man grinned again, and he stroked Aelita's jaw with his long finger. "Such a pretty girl," He said, his voice like the combination of nails on a chalkboard and metal scraping against metal. "I should've expected as much when I was given my assignment. 'Kill the princess,' they said, and they gave me something of yours to track you down. But such a pretty girl you are…" He leaned forward, as if to kiss her, but instead licked her. She shivered. "It would be a shame to just kill you without having fun first. A real shame…" The man undid the first button on her pajama shirt.

At this point, the man was hit in the face by a high-heeled shoe. "_Ew!_ That's sick, you son of a bitch!" Madeline shouted. The human girl hadn't realized she'd woken up. "You need to be shot!"

"And what luck," Someone said as the automatic door opened. Aelita recognized Jeremy's voice, and then heard a click. "I have a gun."

Aelita counted three gunshots, and she hit the floor. She waited to hear the man hit the floor as well, but instead heard several heavy footsteps. She looked up and watched Jeremy merely walk around the man, and shot at him again several times. He tried to shoot again, but the gun clicked, refusing to fire. The elf boy wasn't stupid enough to point it at his head and try to shoot, which was incredibly stupid if a spell had been placed on it, but he quickly opened the magazine*** and closed it just as fast, realizing that it was empty. He turned around and gently tossed the gun to Aelita.

The elf boy took a defensive stance in front of the human girl, and as the man turned around, he watched the way he lunged for him, trying to pick apart any weaknesses that he possessed. He shook his head, realizing that it would take up time that he didn't have. The man reached behind his back, most likely to grab a weapon, and Jeremy's arms liquefied and froze. The elf boy dug his icy limbs into the man's heart and gut. This made the man stop, and Jeremy twisted his arms before he pulled them out.

The man collapsed next to Aelita. The human girl's wide eyes went from the dead man next to her to the elf boy in front of her. His arms were still frozen, and he looked to her with a similar expression that she wore. His arms liquefied and then returned to normal—'normal' being the relative term. His arms were drenched in dark red blood up to his elbows. "And that," He said as he attempted to rub the blood of in vain, "is why I hate doing that. The blood will _never_ come out of this shirt."

* * *

*I use a whip. To keep those bitches in line. Bitches _love_ lines. -This comes from the fact my character in a video game (_Dragon Quest IV, Sentinels of the Starry Sky_) uses a whip, and all of my partners have the same tactic—'Follow Orders.' XD… this is relevant because Jeremy is considering killing a bitch, so… look, it made sense to _me!_

* * *

**For those of you who have forgotten, Marty is the ogre who lives higher up on the mountain with his wife. I don't believe I said this in '_All for Our Country,_' but Marty's wife's name is Marni. They're Marni and Marty.

* * *

***Thanks flyboy961 for clarifying that it's a magazine, not a cartridge. I'm serious, I could **not **remember the word even if my life _depended _on it.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter Fourteen: Jack_

"_Ew!_ He _licked_ you? That's so nasty!" Lyna shouted after Aelita explained what the situation with the dead man on the floor was. The elf girl shuddered, and then kicked the deceased male. She looked at him for a long time, and then added, "Hold up. I knew this sorry ass bastard. He licked me once, too, but the circumstances were _entirely_ different. He was trying to **eat** me." She shrugged. "I did what any sensible pyrokinetic girl would do. I burned his tongue, and then he dropped me. I ran _so_ fast…"

Aelita smiled, and she cringed as Sam rubbed the medicinal herb on her wrist. "_Ah,_" The human girl yelped, and she tried to yank her arm away from the wood faerie.

Sam held her ground, however, and she glanced up for a moment. "I know it stings, but it'll hurt even more if I don't do this." She looked back down to Aelita's wrist. Jeremy had offered to heal the human girl's wrists, actually, but she'd pointed out that his healing ability only worked when the person he was trying to heal was bleeding, and her time working in the S.A.X had given her expertise in the 'magic medicine department', as she liked to call it. The wood faerie placed the crinkled herb on the floor and picked up another. She let go of Aelita's wrist and held out her hand for the remaining wrist, which the human girl gave to her reluctantly.

"I'm sorry, Aelita. The security in this building is usually very strict. I don't know how he got in here." McPhee apologized, and as the human girl opened her mouth to say something, the old man added, "Now, I'm sure that this experience as well as the fact you managed to get in with no trouble at all makes that hard to believe, but you were with Sam, and security had no reason to be suspicious of you." He turned and pushed a variety of buttons on the machine, and he shouted for security as well as for his assistant, who stood next to him silently.

"It's alright, McPhee," Aelita said over her shoulder, glanced to Lyna, and then looked to Jeremy. "I understand he was trying to kill me, but was it necessary to kill him?" She asked the elf boy, cringing at the medicinal herb being rubbed on her wrist.

Jeremy nodded. "Why do you even have to ask?" He questioned, and he almost sounded offended.

The human girl shrugged. "I don't know. I remember Lyna saying something about ogres being some of the nicest people she'd ever met…"

Lyna's position became very defensive. "I find it very offensive that you would even _suggest_ that he's an ogre!" She said, and she crossed her arms. Her hair was messy, and she'd ripped holes in her jeans. Through the holes, her striped tights could be seen.

Aelita jumped at the elf girl's sudden anger, and she looked from the man to Lyna in question. "He's an _orc,_ Aelita." Jeremy corrected her.

She thought for a moment. "What's the difference?"

"Orcs tend to be bigger, stronger, and generally stupider, not to mention they'll eat _anything._" Sam clarified. She stopped rubbing the medicinal herb on the human girl's wrist, and an undefined expression spread across her face. "The image I have of you two will never leave my head."

"They didn't do anything," The elf boy argued.

The wood faerie looked to him in annoyance. "I didn't say they did anything, I said I had an image!" She defended.

"She's got you there, B.B," Lyna pointed out. Her brother glared at her, and she held up her hands.

"A-_ha!_" Ulrich, who had been sitting underneath the machine with Gus, exclaimed. He and the wizard had been trying to release Avalon, and the golem's sudden interjection suggested that they'd done it. The teens turned to look at the creature boys, and the netting that had been keeping Avalon down came loose. The dragon barrel rolled out from underneath the machine and stopped in a dramatic pose. The teens laughed, but the dragon didn't seem to realize what was so funny.

Avalon pounced upon the dead man's face, hopped on it, and then moved to his chest. It turned to see his face, took a deep breath, held it until its cheeks burned red and released fire onto the man's face. Lyna threw her arms over her head and cheered, but Aelita yanked her arm away from the unsuspecting Sam and covered her nose and mouth with both hands. "_Ugh!_ He smells even _worse_ when he's burning!" She shouted.

The elf boy raised one eyebrow. "If that's _possible,_" He murmured. Avalon ignored both of them, pushed the burning strands of hair from the man's face, and—to the surprise of those in the observation deck, excluding McPhee—devoured a chunk of flesh from the center of his face. They all—excluding McPhee—cringed visibly, and the elf boy offered, "Well, it _is_ a dragon, and they _are_ carnivores…"

There was a silence as the dragon sat and chewed its food. Aelita suddenly stood, and she walked out the door in silence. "Is she alright?" Madeline asked, but there was no response.

"God dammit all to Hell!" McPhee shouted, waving his cane in the air like a maniac, "Where are you fucking bastards? It's not even five A.M!" The response came from the hallway. The human girl had vomited. Once again, there was no response, but the old man took his cane from its upright position and rubbed his forehead. "Is it too early to start drinking?" He asked.

The elf girl shrugged. "You said it yourself; it's not even five A.M,"

"It's _never_ too early to start drinking," Jeremy said, his arms crossed.

"You drink?" Sam, McPhee and Madeline all asked skeptically at the same time.

The elf boy shrugged. "Sure, get the beer out and we can pretend its happy hour," He said nonchalantly as he walked out the door. When he left, all eyes landed on Lyna.

She was silent for a moment, as if she was trying to make herself believe that they weren't looking at her. "He dated Laurelei, okay? It's a blessing that he isn't on _cocaine!_" She defended herself.

* * *

Jeremy walked over to Aelita, and he put a hand comfortingly on her back. "Are you alright?" He asked, realizing it was stupid question after the words left his mouth. She nodded. She was still hunched over, her back arched and her shoulders raised. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hand covered her mouth. The human girl said nothing, and having no idea what else to do, the elf boy rubbed her back. Upon doing this, his fingers grazed one of her shoulder blades.

Aelita suddenly straightened, and he jumped. She spun around to face him, her eyes wide as saucers. However, she didn't say anything, and it made the silence awkward. Nervously, she smiled, and she laughed half-heartedly. Jeremy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and to end the silence, the human girl finally said, "I… I'm going to go take a shower…"

For a reason beyond her understanding, the elf boy appeared flustered, his cheeks red. His sudden change in reaction caused his glasses to slip down the bridge of his nose, and Aelita reached out to push them up for him. He beat her to it, and he tried to ask her something, but he seemed to change his mind on what he wanted to say so much that she almost didn't understand him. "Are you—I mean, do you—that is to say are you—I meant to ask did you—why?"

"Jeremy, I spent all night underneath the machine with Avalon!" She pointed out, "I was attacked! I'm hot, sticky and sick! I just want to crawl back into bed and forget this day ever happened!" She held her head in her hand, sort of spun around the place where she'd been sick, entered the code for Jeremy's room into the keypad and walked into his room silently.

The elf boy stood there for what seemed like a long time, trying to forget the sexual way he'd first interpreted what she said. He heard the water turn on, and over his shoulder, someone muttered, "Ain't too late to join ʼer," Jeremy jumped and turned around, expecting to see his sister standing behind him. Instead, he saw a caramel-skinned elf boy with long hair. It was dirty blond near the roots, but turned a dyed blue color near the ends. It was pulled back into a ponytail. He, like Jeremy, had blue eyes, but his were lighter. He wore a dirty white button-up tee-shirt, brown suspenders, and dirty jeans. He didn't wear shoes, and his feet were covered in mud, suggesting he'd walked a long way without them. The elf boy's eyes lit up, as if he remembered Jeremy, and he added, "Hey, E18-HYK7-14! I didn't recognize ya from behind! Long time, no see!"

Jeremy looked at him in confusion for a while, and then realized it was the elf boy who'd been in the cage next to him at the auction. "How is it you can remember my number but not my name?" He asked, annoyed.

He shrugged. "Don't blame me, I didn't think I'd evah see ya again." He laughed. "Guess I wuz wrong, eh, E18-HYK7-14?"

Jeremy looked to the floor, and then back to the elf boy. He held out his hand and said, "_Jeremy._ My name's _Jeremy._"

The elf boy shrugged again. "I still don't give a damn, but, whut the hell? I'm Jack," He shook Jeremy's hand.

"So, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, resisting the urge to rub his hand on his clothes—which was rude to do in front of the person whose hand you just shook. "I never did find out what happened to you after the auction."

"_Dah,_" Jack said, looking away for a moment. "Ain't got nuthin' to say ʼbout that. Probably not much different than whut ʼappened to you,"

"Why?" He asked in annoyance. "_What happened to you?_"

"Got bought by some rich bastard who lived all th' way up in Montreal or somethin'. He didn't stop with me, neither. Bought this redhead, too, but I ain't got no idea ʼbout whut ʼappened ʼer. Man, she wuz a real beaut…"

"And you escaped?"

"Oh, naw, dumb bastard let me go way back in December,"

"He _let_ you _go?_"

"Yeah! As it turns out, it's illegal to keep slaves up in North Dakota!"

Jeremy thought for a moment. "Montreal is in Canada,"

"Is it? Explains those god damn Mounties,"

"Anyway, what are you doing in Washington?"

"Damn, this is Washington? I thought this wuz D.C! I bin goin' the wrong way!"

"This _is_ D.C, Jack. _Washington_ D.C."

"Oh. Yeah, well, I wuz headed down to South Carolina, ʼcause that's where my family lives, and this place wuz on th' way. I saw you and thought since you wuz an elf like me you wuz goin' someplace safe where I could get some rest and I could be off by morning. I noticed th' door to this place got ripped off its hinges and I wuz all like, 'dawg, this is D.C! Ain't they got no security down here?'

"So I go and find th' security and as it turns out, they _dead._ All of ʼum. So I'm like, 'man, that's shit.' I come down here and I see you and this pretty little white thing talking ʼbout how she's gunna take a shower and I wuz like, 'why is that guy not followin' ʼer?'"

It took a long time for Jeremy to calm down about that. "So, why ain't you followin' ʼer?" Jack asked.

"Now I remember why I wasn't all that upset when I was sold off to my master," Jeremy noted.

"Speakin' of which, when they sold you off, did ya evah find out who that little bitch who kept screamin', 'I want ʼim, I want ʼim' wuz?" Jack asked, bringing up a suppressed memory of the auction.

He remembered looking out over the blackened crowd, and an obnoxious girl shouting at her socialite mother that she wanted him. With luck, the girl became so much of a distraction to her mother that in the time she took to calm her down, Jeremy had been sold to his master. There were times at the beginning of his enslavement when he wondered why his master had bothered to go into a bidding war with the girl's mother when he really didn't have much for the elf boy to do, or what it would've been like had he been sold to the girl instead. Judging by what she'd shouted, he was weighing physical abuse and sexual abuse, while in reality, he would have preferred to be at home where he received no abuse—the occasional teasing from his friends, but no abuse. "No," He answered simply.

"Ah. Too bad." Jack shrugged. He moved out of the way of a custodian, as did Jeremy. "What's with th' janitor?"

"Aelita got sick earlier because her dragon started to eat the face of an orc I killed this morning."

"Aelita?"

"The 'pretty little white thing,'"

"_Oh!_ You hittin' that?"

"No."

"…can I hit that?"

"_No!_"

"Don't bite my head off! I thought since ya weren't hittin' that, she must be fair game!"

"Well, she isn't. So get over it."

"Fine, fine… can we _share_ ʼer?"

"_No!_ My God, Jack! I've already killed this morning, I'm not afraid to do it again!"

"Hey, just since you can't have ʼer doesn't mean ya should _kill_ ʼer!"

"_I wasn't talking about Aelita._"

"Well! I'm sorry for tryin' to spread th' love,"

"Go take a bath, you hippie."

* * *

A/N: And… Jeremy wins. Chalk one up for hippie haters. As for the drinking thing, he was probably bluffing, but if he wasn't, it would _definitely_ be interesting.

Also, in other news, I forgot to say this last chapter, but I decided on the gender of the baby. Not like I'm going to tell you guys, though. _(Am I bad? Oh, yes. _:D_)_


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter Fifteen: Rivals_

Aelita held her towel close to her body as she inspected her pajama shirt. Like she expected, it was dirty, and there were a few stains on the back from where Jeremy hadn't been able to get the blood off of his hand before he'd rubbed her back. Thinking back to that, she wished she hadn't reacted so suddenly. Perhaps it would be better to tell him than keep it a secret from him, she thought as she tossed the pajama shirt into the hamper. At least if he knew he could get McPhee to arrange some sort of defense for her to make up for the fact she could no longer fly away. If she could have it her way, she wouldn't need the defense—after all, between the elf boy especially, as well as her other friends and Avalon, she was pretty much covered.

She shook her head. Gus had said it not too long ago; Jeremy didn't need anything else to worry about, least of all her, and the last thing she needed was a lecture from him. The human girl opened her bag and noticed that she hadn't brought an extra pair of pajamas—she'd brought spare clothes, and of course she could change into them, but she just wanted to go to sleep and forget the day had even happened, and clothes aren't always the easiest things to lie down in. The human girl walked over to the door, opened it and hung her head out to talk to the elf boy. "Jeremy, can I borrow one of your shirts? My pajamas are dirty," She asked.

Jeremy turned to face her. "Well, technically, the shirt is mine," He pointed out.

"It's mine now," She said, her eyes flashing to an upset-looking Avalon who sulked in front of the doorway. The human girl moved her legs to allow the dragon passage into the bedroom.

The elf boy laughed. "That's true. No, I don't mind."

She smiled. "Thank you!" She headed back inside, and the door closed before anything else could be said.

Jeremy's eyes turned from the doorway to Jack, who asked, "Is she yur master's kid?"

He blinked. "Huh? No, my master didn't have any kids. I met Aelita long before I was a slave."

At that moment, Lyna came out of the observation deck, and she started to greet Jeremy when she noticed Jack. "Hi," He greeted, and he moved closer to the elf girl. "My name's Jack."

Lyna inched away from him. "Karolyna," She introduced herself using her full first name without her middle or even last name, meaning that she'd just barely met him and already didn't like him. "Take a shower."

"Only if you're coming with me," Jack flirted.

"Hey, Casanova, that's my sister you're hitting on!" Jeremy protested. He shook his head. "God, you're worse than Odd!"

Lyna looked to her brother. "How do you know this guy?" She asked.

"He was in the cage next to me back at the auction," Her brother explained, "He didn't recognize me earlier and followed me here."

"Huh," The elf girl looked from her brother to Jack and then back to her brother. "Okay, he's dirty and smelly and he'd hit on a brick wall, but how is he worse that Odd?"

Jeremy sighed. "He was talking about having sex with Aelita earlier before you showed up."

Lyna looked to the other elf boy. "You said your name was Jack, right?" She asked.

"Yes," He nodded.

"**You have disgraced the Pumpkin King!**" She shouted, and she blew into his ear. This sent a shiver up Jack's spine, and he sneezed. The elf girl looked to Jeremy with a smile. "Hey, what do you know, it isn't just our family," She looked back to Jack. "You don't talk about Shrimpy like that! We tease Jeremy about it, but we never talk about her like that! The last guy who talked about Shrimpy like that got dead!"

She moved closer to her brother and showed him something in her hands. "Speaking of Shrimpy, check it out. I found this in a store last night and bought it for her." In her hands were two pairs of socks. Sewn into the first were countless shrimp on a blue background, probably representing the ocean. The second pair was almost identical, but the colors had been switched. "Aren't they adorable?" The elf girl asked.

Jeremy looked them over for a second. "Actually, yes," He finally said with a smile. "You bought these?"

"Yeah, who else would get her something like this?" She asked rhetorically.

"No, I mean, the store was open?" He clarified.

"What? Oh, no, the Xanadu had thrown someone through a window. I saw the socks and picked them up. I left the money on the counter."

Jeremy paused for a moment. "You carry money around when we go to battle?"

"Don't be stupid. I forgot to clear out my pockets last time I went grocery shopping." She handed the socks to Jeremy. "Give these to Shrimpy, okay, B.B?" She asked, and he nodded. The elf girl glanced to Jack, pointed at him and shouted, "_Disgrace!_"

Jack looked at her in confusion. "I—" He started.

"**Long live the Pumpkin King!**" Lyna interrupted him. She smiled at Jeremy. "Okay, thanks. Hug me, brother!" She and her brother embraced momentarily, and then she walked off with a certain kick in her step, singing one of the songs from '_the Nightmare before Christmas_'.

There was a long pause. "I think I got hit by a truck," Jack said finally.

"That would be the best way to describe my sister in eight words," Jeremy agreed, "but you get used to it."

Suddenly, Lyna ran back to him, and she said, "Oh, B.B, I forgot to tell you something!" She said, and she took his shoulders in her hands. "Pretend Shrimpy is a cookie," She told him in her most serious of tones. He looked at her in confusion, and she added, "You'll know what I mean when the time comes. Now, remember—_Shrimpy is a cookie._ Say it with me. _Shrimpy is a cookie._"

She ran off again, and once again, there was a silence. "What th' hell was _that?_" Jack asked.

Jeremy thought for a moment, his face still confused. "I have no idea," He announced. Jack looked at him strangely, and he added, "I don't have _all_ the answers!"

"Jeremy?" Aelita's voice said, and the elf boy she'd asked for turned around to face her. She wore one of his old tank tops—Jeremy remembered the particular one from two or three years ago—and it barely covered her, either meaning she was getting taller or she'd just grabbed one of his shirts to avoid stumbling upon something better left unseen. It bunched up around the hem, which he assumed came from the fact she was fiddling with it nervously. "Can you come lie down with me?" She asked, Avalon at her feet, probably to ensure no one unwanted got close enough to the human girl to harm her. The elf boy resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the dragon's paranoia.

Instead, he tried to keep a straight face and nodded. "Sure, I'll be right there." He remembered something, and he tossed the socks to her. She barely reacted in time to catch them before they hit the floor. "Lyna bought those for you."

Aelita looked them over. "They have shrimp on them. That's hilarious," She said sarcastically. The human girl shook her head, and then she and her dragon walked back into the bedroom. Jeremy followed her, as did Jack.

Jeremy watched her pick up Avalon, and she placed it on the bed. After she climbed into the bed, he sat down and pulled his arms into his shirt. Both Aelita and Jack watched in confusion, but when he pulled out the bulletproof vest he wore under his shirt, neither said anything. It was at that moment Aelita noticed Jack. She blinked and then greeted, "Uh… hi," It almost sounded like a question.

"Hi," Jack waved at her. "I'm Jack."

Aelita nudged Jeremy. "Why did you bring him in here?" She whispered to him. "Now I feel bad for taking a shower. He clearly needs one more than I did!" She held her hand out for a moment and pulled it back just as fast, implying that it had only been to point him out and not to have him shake her hand. Jeremy laughed at both what she'd said and her borderline rude motion. Jack, on the other hand, cocked his head to one side and seemed rather insulted. The human girl looked at him in confusion, and realized she'd failed to notice Jack was an elf, and therefore she might as well have screamed it. "I'm… Aelita…" She laughed nervously.

It was at that moment Jeremy grasped what his sister meant.

Jack held his hand out for Aelita to shake it, and to both his and the human girl's confusion, Jeremy started to growl at him. He recoiled, but otherwise thought nothing of it, and he stuck out his hand to Aelita. The hydrokinetic elf suddenly grabbed her and pulled her close to him, and she found it difficult for her to move. "No, no, no, no, _no!_" He shouted, even making Avalon cringe at his volume. "_SHE'S MINEALLMINEYOUAREN'TALLOWEDTOTOUCHHERSHE'SMINEYOUCAN'THAVEHERSHE'SMINEMINEMINE!_"

He glared at the startled Jack for a long time, and while she felt very confused for a moment, Aelita then smiled. Avalon, possessing no ability to laugh or even giggle when it was amused, began to wheeze in a way that sounded highly pleased. For a while, the wheezing was the only sound, and then Jeremy turned to the human girl held tightly in his arms and asked, "I'm sorry, am I holding you too tight?"

"No, no, I'm fine," She reassured him. "Totally fine…" She grinned in a slightly maniacal way.

Jeremy didn't seem to notice the grin, but Jack definitely took note of it. He murmured something to the other elf boy, who immediately after released Aelita and looked to her. He opened his mouth to say something, but then looked away. "Nah…" He said, as if he were shrugging her off.

"What?" She asked, interested since he seemed to trust her with what he was about to say but then thought better of it.

"I don't know if you can handle it," He said, "It's really important.*"

"I can handle it!" She announced, so excited she was nearly jumping up and down. "What is it? Come on, tell me!"

"Have you ever heard of a snipe?" He asked.

Aelita thought for a moment. "No," She shook her head. The human girl wasn't stupid, but she'd never heard of a snipe. In addition, she'd spent a majority of her life inside her bedroom, and even before that, she'd never bothered her parents enough that they had to send her on a snipe hunt. Put together, it placed the elusive snipe in the same category of everything else that made her innocent. "Is it those guns that can hit a target very accurately from very far away?" That was something she'd read about.

"That's a sniper," Jeremy hid back a smirk as he clarified. "Anyway, orcs never leave home without a snipe. But I didn't see it when I killed that orc earlier, so it must've run off."

"And you want me to find it?" Aelita's eyes twinkled.

"Oh, I don't know. It's awfully crafty." He said. "You'd have to clap your hands three times to draw it out."

"I can do it! Come on, Avalon!" She jumped out of bed, as did the dragon, which seemed equally oblivious, and they ran out of the bedroom together. She started clapping her hands in groups of three.

Jeremy and Jack watched her leave. "I can't believe she hasn't seen that movie." Jeremy shook his head. "Lyna showed it to me a while back, but I didn't know Aelita hadn't heard of a snipe hunt."

"Is she stupid or somethin'?" Jack asked.

"No, just innocent…" He began, and he remembered why he'd sent his girlfriend on the snipe hunt in the first place he stood and shoved Jack against the wall, something that the other elf boy hadn't been expecting. The air fled his lungs when he made contact with the wall, and when he tried to move away from it, Jeremy pushed him back. "You listen to me, alright? I will _not_ stand here while you trash not only my girlfriend but her _entire species!_"

Jack's expression didn't change. "I got a reason," He said.

"I don't care. You keep your goddamn mouth shut!"

"Why are you defendin' them?"

"I—"

"After everythin' they did to us and others like us, you still on their side?"

"It's not like—"

"And you'd still date one of th' people who enslaved us before one of us?"

"That's not her fault!"

"I've got a real hard time believin' that."

"I don't…"

"How long did it take you before ya got into th' slave's state of mind?"

"I… I don't know. A couple of weeks, maybe?"

"Less, more likely. What would it take for ya not to do what she asked?"

"That… depends…"

"And if she asked ya to do somethin' or get 'er somethin', would ya do it?"

"Of course!"

"So how is this different from you bein' a slave?"

"I love her, first of all. Second of all, Aelita doesn't ask me to do things she could do herself!"

"So, she can't sleep alone?"

"That's different. She's probably afraid of being kidnapped or something**!"

"I think ya failed to notice th' evil grin she had on 'er face…"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Earlier, you couldn't wait to get her in bed with you, and now you're trying to convince me that she's this evil slave-holding bitch!"

Jack shrugged. "I don't think ya heard me right. I'm still interested in getting' 'er in bed!" His face returned to its serious expression as he continued, "But not for sport, man. I plan to exploit 'er within an inch of 'er life…" He pulled a knife from his pocket, as if to appear more intimidating. Jeremy looked it over quickly. It was double-sided, and the blades appeared to be longer than four inches, which he was pretty sure was the legal length. Strangely, his accent went away as he added, "…just like she and every other bitch and bastard like her exploited us. Believe me, Jeremy, there will be a day when you realize that humanity, as humble as they try to make themselves appear, are at heart self-interested. Your 'girlfriend' may be 'innocent,' but she's no different."

Jeremy was appalled. Jack clearly had only ever spent time with humans when he was enslaved. He, on the other hand, had grown up with humans, and while it was true that some humans did hold themselves to such a high esteem they became self-interested and greedy, most humans did not. They possessed the same emotions as magical creatures, and they possessed moral compasses that identified right from wrong. While it was true that if there was no proof of something, humans either dismissed it as nonexistent or feared it, but that was an instinct adapted for survival.

"You're a _pig,_" He insulted Jack. He heard Aelita as she started to come back into earshot. "And while I can't change your mind, I can make _damn_ well sure your plan doesn't work out."

Jack looked at him strangely, but neither said anything for a while. When Aelita's voice seemed to be near the door, Jeremy said loudly, "I don't know what you're talking about, Jack, because _I_ think Aelita is _gorgeous!_" The other elf boy narrowed his eyes, even more confused than he had been. Outside, Aelita's voice stopped, an obvious sign that she'd heard him. Jeremy grabbed Jack's wrists and walked backwards until his own back hit the wall across from the door. He took Jack's free hand and placed it over his mouth. He used his feet until Jack's position seemed threatening, and then positioned himself in a way that made him look like the victim.

It was then that Jeremy moved Jack's hand that was gripping his knife and placed the edge of one of the blades against his own face. "You wouldn't," Jack said, thinking that he only needed to look like a victim until Aelita opened the door. Jeremy narrowed his eyes, forced Jack's knife blade into his left cheek under his eye and faked a scream into his hand. He continued the scream as he dragged the knife blade through his cheek, leading a trail of blood as it leaked from the cut.

The door opened, and with a quick adjustment in his arm position, it seemed to Aelita that Jeremy had been struggling against Jack. "Jeremy!" She shouted out in concern, and the hydrokinetic elf boy let go of Jack's limbs so he could move away. Jeremy slid down the wall, as if the experience had left him traumatized. "You poor thing! What happened?" She rushed over to his side. After pushing a stray hair from his face, she glared up at Jack accusingly.

"It wasn't me! He staged it!" Jack protested, his accent returning.

Aelita crossed her arms. "Don't lie to me! I saw you!"

Jack motioned his arms towards Jeremy. "Everyone keeps sayin' he killed an orc earlier, so if he can do _that,_ how come he got cut by me?"

"Jeremy spent all night fighting the Xanadu, and like you said, he killed an orc this morning! He must be exhausted! Get out, you big meanie!" She pointed to the door, and Avalon, standing next to her, hissed.

"But—" Jack started to argue.

"_Get out!_" Aelita shouted. Her dragon jumped forward and hissed louder, and it stalked Jack as he backed out of the room. Aelita watched angrily, and then looked back to Jeremy with concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah. Thanks… for coming to my rescue." He smiled.

She smiled back at him. "Hey, you've saved me more times than I can remember…" She rubbed the cut on his face, and it transferred to her fingers. She looked from her bleeding fingers and then back to the cut, which had started to bleed again, but not as fast. Surprised, the human girl blinked, and she rubbed it with her thumb. The cut didn't begin to bleed afterwards.

"Why did you…?" The elf boy began to ask, but the question was clear enough that he didn't have to finish it.

"Oh. I…" She looked to the spot where the cut once was as she gave him her hand so he could heal it for her. "…missed a spot…" Her voice trailed off.

He shrugged. "I didn't feel like you missed anything, but you can see it, not me…"

Aelita didn't hear him. She just started at the place where the cut had been. When Jeremy stood, she remained still, her eyes locked in position. She was deep in thought, remembering the times in the past when she'd healed burns and cuts and the like. She'd never had to heal the same place twice, not even when she and Jeremy were in the forest and the elf boy had received an otherwise fatal wound. It was true that she was unable to heal all of his wounds, but she'd healed the fatal wound without an issue. In comparison, the cut was minor, but it had taken more than once touch to heal it. It didn't make sense.

Unless, she realized, her illness was getting worse.

* * *

*I don't care who you are or how old you are, if someone does this to you, you _will_ become interested.

* * *

**Wrong.

* * *

A/N: Point two, hippie haters. We'll catch up with Jack later. But, ooh, drama! XD


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter Sixteen: Bright Lights_

"Aelita. Aelita! Up, up, up! It Ligaya. Ligaya!"

The voice forced the human girl from her deep sleep, but the bed's early morning warmth and comfort was intoxicating. She was about to fall back asleep when someone grabbed her shoulders and began to shake her. "Aelita up! Aelita up! It Ligaya. Ligaya!" The voice shouted in her ear, but Aelita was less startled than she was annoyed. Ligaya? She didn't know a Ligaya. Unless—the human girl sat up with a jolt, only to remember Ligaya was a tiny pixie who she hadn't seen since it abandoned her. The person sitting on Jeremy's bed with her certainly didn't fit the bill. For starters, Ligaya had been so small that its gender had been a mystery, but the person in front of her was clearly female. Ligaya's skin tone changed with the light it gave off, but the girl's skin tone was burnt umber, much like Shiloh's had been. The only thing the girl had in common with Ligaya was the dragonfly wings on her back.

The girl's hair was long, straight and white. She wore a grey tee-shirt and grey short shorts, with silvery-white bangles around her ankles. Her eyes were striking, however—there was almost no distinction between the whites of her eyes and her white irises. Aelita had never met someone quite like this girl, but she clearly wasn't Ligaya!

However, the girl had a different idea. She wrapped her lanky arms around Aelita's neck and laughed. "Ligaya find Aelita! Ligaya find Aelita! Ligaya happy! Happy Ligaya!" She laughed some more, but Aelita pushed the girl away. She stared at her for a while. "Oh! Aelita no recognize Ligaya big? Easy explain. Easy explain!" She clapped her hands together. "Ligaya taken by vampires. Vampires hand Ligaya and other Forest pixies to Xanadu. Xanadu make Ligaya and pixies big to collect pixie light. Good energy source, yes? Ligaya escaped. Others remain. But Ligaya find Aelita! Ligaya happy. Happy Ligaya!" The girl smiled and laughed some more.

Aelita stared at the girl for a while, but then laughed as well. "Ligaya! I've missed you so much! Is that what happened to you?" She hugged the pixie, who nodded. "Oh, my god! I thought that I'd never see you again!" Realizing Avalon was pushing against her arm, she released Ligaya and attempted to introduce the two. "Ligaya, this is Avalon. Avalon—"

"_I appreciate the formality, but Ligaya and I have already met._" Avalon spoke telekinetically. "_How lovely it is to see you once more, child of the Forest._"

"Avalon know Aelita? Ligaya glad. Ligaya double glad! Double glad Ligaya!" Ligaya sang, and a light clicked on inside her head. She dug around inside her pocket, and then pulled out a small, dead rodent. She tossed it to the dragon, who caught it in its mouth. "Aelita with Avalon all along! Aelita no with Jeremy?" She asked.

The human girl smiled. "Don't be silly! Of course he's here." She pushed a stray hair behind her ear. "Oh course, I don't know where he's gotten off to now…"

Avalon tilted its head. "_Oh? Jeremy did not tell me, either. Perhaps you would go and find him while Ligaya and I get reacquainted?_" The dragon asked. Aelita thought for a moment, and her smile vanished. Nevertheless, she nodded, stood and left the room without another word. Ligaya smiled as the human girl did so, and Avalon appeared to be trying to do the same. As the door shut behind her, both the pixie and the dragon's faces became very serious.

"Ligaya know Aelita in danger. Aelita no in danger, Menelwen no send Avalon." Ligaya said, turning from the door to the dragon. "Avalon sent by Menelwen, yes?"

"_Yes, I was sent by Menelwen to fix what you failed to prevent._" Avalon's words were harsh, but were not said in a way that made the pixie think that Menelwen was upset with her. "_It's worse than anyone could've predicted. She's being haunted by Dark Shadows. This, of course, is not your fault, my child. No one, whether it be faerie, pixie or dragon, could've put a stop to the amputation, nor could they have helped the moment of weakness that ended with the haunting. Menelwen does not hold you responsible, nor do I._"

Ligaya smiled in relief. "Ligaya glad. Ligaya wish Ligaya help sooner." She hung her head. "Ligaya taken. Ligaya fail. Ligaya know…"

Avalon shook its head. "_No, dear child. You did not fail. Your presence helped Aelita continue on. Menelwen compliments that. She wishes for me to thank you, and she sends her sympathy to you, though she has no idea what horrors you've suffered. Now, tell me, Ligaya, did you return to the Forest before you came here? Did you speak to the Forest, or to Menelwen?_"

She thought for a moment. "Ligaya no return to Forest. Forest too far. Monster block way!" The dragon seemed disappointed, but then the pixie added, "But Ligaya feel Forest vibe. Forest vibe send Ligaya news!"

The dragon seemed like it was trying to smile again. "_Is this true? News of what?_"

"News of Forest. News from Yggdrasil." Ligaya shrugged.

"_Ah. I've always admired your clan's ability to sense your homeland's emotions and portray them through your light. In seems, however, your enlarged form lacks the pixie light ability…_"

"No true! No true! Ligaya tired. Pixie light need time!"

"_My apologies._" Avalon bowed its head respectfully. It looked up with a deadly serious expression written across its face. "_I have something very important that I must discuss with you. Before I brought Aelita here, I discussed with Menelwen about the fair one. Tell me, child. Is the fair one still the favorite of Menelwen?_"

* * *

Jeremy turned and smiled at Aelita as she ran towards him. "Good morning! You sure did sleep in." He teased her, and he held back a laugh when she slid on the tile floor. "Where's Avalon? Usually it's right there licking your heels."

Aelita, smiling, grabbed the elf boy's wrists and spun around him. "Ligaya is here! You remember her, don't you?" She looked up at him hopefully.

He thought for a moment. "You mean… the pixie? Who could forget—hold on a second." He blinked. "Ligaya's a girl?"

The human girl shrugged. "I guess so. Come on, she wants to see you!" She pulled on his wrists.

* * *

"Yes. Menelwen keep eye on fair one. Menelwen protect fair one." Ligaya confirmed.

Avalon nodded. "_So it would seem…_" The dragon shook its head. "_For how long has she watched over the fair one? For how long has her protection existed? One could only speculate._"

Ligaya nodded in agreement. A chill visibly ran up her spine as the door opened behind her. She turned to see Aelita and Jeremy smiling at her. The pixie tried to smile, but the chill refused to pass. "Ligaya suddenly cold…" She looked from Avalon to Aelita to Jeremy. Her eyes came to rest locked with his. Seriously, the pixie pointed to him and murmured something even he didn't quite catch. Ligaya shook her head, and the chill passed. Able to smile normally again, she did so and said, "Jeremy! Ligaya miss! Ligaya give Jeremy hug!"

The pixie jumped up and embraced the elf boy, who laughed and pushed her off of him. "Long time, no see!" He stopped laughing, and added seriously, "Must've been longer than I thought. You look like you hit puberty, judging by the way you grew!"

Ligaya laughed. "Xanadu make Ligaya and pixies big. Big Ligaya! Roar!" She laughed again, but once again, she stopped. The room fell still as her arms fell to her sides. After a few seconds, she appeared to be standing at attention, and she closed her eyes. She began to speak in a language neither Jeremy or Aelita understood, but soon, words they did understand could be heard. "… the… simple… charm… bring… tomorrow… great danger… careful…" Ligaya went on, but eventually, she opened her eyes. "And that's the message."

No one spoke. Ligaya hadn't quite sounded like herself when she'd given 'the message,' nor did they truly know what 'the message' was. Suddenly, the pixie's body started to give off a soft white light, and she looked to her arms. "Pixie light return! No strong yet. Ligaya need time. Tomorrow go." She stepped off of the bed where she'd been standing and walked out of the room, somehow dazed. "Tomorrow." She repeated as she left.

* * *

A/N: It feels like the most recent pause between chapters was longer than normal. I had three ideas of how to continue it, and all three have to happen, but they have to happen in an order that makes sense. So I was mulling it over, and decided to bring Ligaya back. She's definitely different, though… and new mysteries have revealed themselves!

Who is Menelwen? Who is the fair one? Why am I using Yggdrasil when it's such a cliché? Find out soon!

… Actually, Yggdrasil has no real point to the story other than it's totally cool…


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter Seventeen: Lantern_

The rain pounded down on the roof. Ligaya was glad she'd decided to stay the night, since the rain was a hindrance to her wings. She sat in the room at the end of the Titan Wing, and she'd created a rough semi-circle in front of her with candles. She quickly gripped each wick with her thumb and forefinger, leaving behind a bright white, yet small, flame. The flames then cooled to blue, red and finally, yellow-orange. Ligaya crossed her legs and meditated in the candlelit room.

Under normal circumstances, Ligaya probably would've been with Aelita, Avalon and Jeremy, but she reminded herself that they weren't normal circumstances. She knew of the danger that she'd been warned of, but other than the fact the presence of danger had been predicted, the pixie knew nothing about it. Her energy was, through her meditation, being transferred to creating a premonition of her own, hoping to learn of the danger so she could avoid exposing Aelita to it. The human girl had gone through so much pointless suffering; Ligaya didn't want to bring more of it into her life.

There came a certain dizziness, and with it, a splitting headache. The small flames on the candles turned red and shot up, and the candlelit room was removed from her vision suddenly. Ligaya didn't see anything, but she felt pain, falling, burning, and desperation, in addition to many other emotions typically categorized as negative. The candles' fire died down to the small yellow-orange flames, and the pain her head was pounded with quieted.

But it hadn't helped her any! It was true Ligaya had felt many things that could be described as dangerous, but if those things were in the past, present or future, she could not tell. She bent over to blow out the candles when she noticed a picture formed through smoke and light. It looked like… a girl, maybe? Many of the features were either covered by other features or just unrecognizable, so the pixie didn't know if she knew the person she saw or not. But whoever it was, they had burning, determined eyes that gleamed with protection, as if whatever they were looking at was harming something they cared about. The image faded, and she was even more confused than she'd been at first. She blew out the candles.

* * *

"_…Ligaya? You seem distracted, my dear._" Avalon noted. Ligaya looked to the dragon, but otherwise said nothing. "_Is something the matter?_"

The pixie girl shrugged. "Ligaya no know," She said. She crossed her legs and spun the bangles around her ankles.

Suddenly, the door to Jeremy's room opened, and Aelita ran out, smiling. "Are you ready?" She asked the pixie and the dragon as Jeremy walked out behind her. Ligaya didn't say anything, but she did nod and stand. Avalon jumped up. "Come on!" The human girl picked up the dragon and sprinted down the hall.

Ligaya didn't run after her, nor did Jeremy. "I'll bet you five bucks she doesn't make it to the end of the hallway," He said monotonously. The pixie girl shook her head and fluttered her wings.

Like the elf boy had predicted, Aelita was worn out by the time she reached her only moments later. Ligaya smiled and lifted her up under her arms, carrying her down the hall. This didn't come without protest. "Hey! Put me down! Let go!" Aelita struggled.

"Why wiggle lots?" Ligaya questioned her, somewhat insulted. The human girl sighed. The pixie girl placed her on the floor when they reached the end of the hallway, but she didn't open the door until Jeremy and Avalon caught up with them. She peaked out the door. The rain, which had sounded endless the night before, no longer fell. "No rain!" She shouted, flinging open the door and spinning outside.

Aelita laughed and started to follow her. She looked down to see the worms that the rain had washed out of the dirt. The human girl stepped carefully, so not to step on them.

Ligaya noted that Aelita had left the safety of the building, and her eyes scanned the horizon. However, there didn't seem to be any danger, so the pixie girl relaxed. "All go Forest time! Forest time!" She said, laughing. Her light became more intense as she added, "Too long to fly. Teleport instead, yes?"

The human girl nodded, not paying attention. She knelt and picked up the worms that hadn't dried out, and then placed them in exposed dirt. She then stood and smiled at Ligaya. The pixie girl offered one of her hands to Aelita, and then the other to Jeremy. The teens took one hand each, and Avalon fluttered its wings until the human girl held it against her waist with her free arm. Ligaya also fluttered its wings, and the light grew even more intense. "Hold on a second, Ligaya. Do any of you hear that?" Jeremy asked, looking around.

Ligaya tilted her head. "What hear?" She asked.

"I don't know. It's splitting through the air, but I don't hear anything other than that." The elf boy said, closing his eyes as to not be distracted by anything other than the noise. "It isn't moving fast enough to be a bullet, so maybe it's…" He thought for a moment, and Ligaya realized that the danger she'd been warned of was the same thing Jeremy could hear. She spun around, releasing both teens' hands before doing so, and stood so most of Aelita's body was protected by her own. "…an arrow?" He offered.

At that moment, the arrow the elf boy had predicted pierced Ligaya's forehead. The moment was almost surreal; it seemed like time slowed down as the arrowhead penetrated the nape of her neck and the force of the impact caused her to fall back. Aelita tried to hold the pixie girl up, and Jeremy ran to her side. They gently placed Ligaya on the sidewalk, where they noticed that her light was diming, much like it did when she slept.

But she was not sleeping. She was dying.

When the light faded altogether, Ligaya died right there on the sidewalk. It had happened to quickly for Aelita, Jeremy or Avalon to determine what to do. Mortified, they merely sat there for a while. Eventually, the human girl pushed the pixie girl's eyelids down, and muffled her sobs. Jeremy wrapped his arm around Aelita's shoulder to comfort her. Avalon walked on Ligaya's corpse and curled up on the pixie's stomach.

A tiny yellow light floated up from the pixie girl's corpse, catching Jeremy's attention, and then vanished. Two more lights followed its lead, and then four lights. Subconsciously, the elf boy felt around for Ligaya's hand as eight lights floated up until they vanished, and then sixteen. The lights kept doubling until they created a bright flash that consumed all four.

When the flash faded and his eyes adjusted, Jeremy realized that they were no longer in Washington D.C, but just outside a forest—the Forest.

But it was no longer hidden to those outside it. Details, he supposed, didn't matter, and he nudged Aelita to get her attention. She blinked when she realized where they were, and asked, "How did we get here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the pixies of the Forest come back here when they die." Jeremy said.

"_No,_" Avalon said, getting off Ligaya's stomach and changing to its ghost-like form. It grew in size until it was large enough for the deceased pixie to fit on its back, and the dragon instructed Jeremy to do just that. "_Menelwen knew that we were with Ligaya when she died, and that Ligaya knew where the other Forest pixies were. Menelwen used her magic to bring Ligaya here, knowing that we were sure to follow._"

As soon as Avalon had finished talking, a figure appeared in the Forest. When it got closer, its paper-white skin became visible, and Jeremy stepped in front of Aelita, fearing that the figure was a vampire.

The figure stopped when it reached the edge of the Forest's trail, which was only about a meter in front of them. It was a boy, about thirteen, with pin straight jet black hair that reached his shoulders. His eyes were completely black, with no white to speak of. He blinked strangely, with two eyelids coming from the side and another from the bottom. His face was emotionless, and he dressed in clothes resembling those of the Middle Ages.

"My name is Polaris*," The boy said, "I will guide you to Yggdrasil."

* * *

*For all you non-sciencey folks, Polaris is the official name for the North Star. I thought it was cool, so… here we are…

* * *

A/N: A-queenoffairys drew fan art for '_By Valor and Arms_'! I'd put the link here, but it keeps geting rid of the web address, so you can check it out from my profile. If it isn't working... if you click on the website part of my profile, it'll take you to my DeviantArt profile, and you can find the picture in my Favourites. But you shouldn't have to do it the long way if the web address on my profile works.

When I saw this, I felt like school was cancelled due to a snow day on the last day of school. You never thought it could happen, but it did. This calls for a shout-out! A-queenoffairys? MAD PROPS ONTO YOU!


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter Eighteen: Diplomats_

Polaris, the elf boy noted, had two features that closely resembled Aelita's, the most notable of which was their skin; they shared the same paper white flesh. They were also the same height, though, even ignoring the physical features they shared, there was something strange between them. He supposed he only noticed it because he walked between them; Polaris and Aelita possessed auras that were like the north or south end of two separate magnets being pushed together. They repelled each other, and Jeremy could almost see their auras distort because of it.

He heard the human girl whimper, and he looked down to her. Her face was covered by her bangs and hands, probably to hide her tears. "Aelita?" He whispered. She wiped her eyes before she looked at him, wearing a fake smile.

"Yeah?" She asked, her voice shaking.

Instead of saying anything, Jeremy just held her tighter. Their guide seemed as if he'd almost forgotten they were there. Polaris stopped walking suddenly and, carefully, removed the arrow that had killed Ligaya. He held it up to the sky, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed like he looked at the arrow in speculation. "What's wrong?" The human girl asked. "Have you seen the arrow before?"

Polaris looked to her, and he blinked in his odd way. "Pardon? I was just thinking that the arrow looks like one sun warriors use." He said, and then he looked back to it. "However, now that you say that, I think I have seen this before, although I cannot recall where. I apologize."

"May I see it?" Aelita asked, reaching out towards him.

He held up on hand. "Aelita, I ask that you come no closer." She brought her hand back in confusion. As if he read her thoughts, he explained. "Your illness causes the energy that your body cannot contain to expand and become electrically charged. I have the same illness you do, but rather than human ancestors, I have semi-aquatic ones.

"To explain it in a way you'd understand, an electric charge sent through water causes the hydrogen and oxygen that forms it to separate. While this doesn't happen when your aura comes into contact with mine, it does hurt quite a bit." Before she could say anything, he added, "The same is true when your body sends out electric discharges, though it isn't just me but anyone with hydrokinetic abilities, and it hurts more." Polaris handed the arrow to Jeremy, who in turn passed it to Aelita.

She looked to the elf boy. "Have I ever discharged near you?"

"If I remember right, only once or twice." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry!" She apologized.

"Don't be; I've chosen to live with it," He took his arm off her shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Besides, it only takes socks and a carpet to shock me." Jeremy added grimly.

Aelita shook her head. "Anyway," She began, "Polaris, you have the same disease I have?"

He looked over his shoulder. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

"I didn't think anyone else could have this disease; that I was the only one…"

Polaris didn't so much as smile. "How stupid of you. No matter where you are or what you're going through, someone suffers the same way as you in some way. Mind you we suffer from different symptoms, but the underlying disease is the same."

Aelita resisted the urge to be insulted. "What symptoms do you have that I don't?"

"I don't know. What symptoms do you have?"

"Well, I can't use my powers, obviously—"

"I already said we had that in common."

"You know you're an asshole, right?" Jeremy interrupted.

"—but I also cry blood. My legs are really weak, too, but I don't think that it's from the disease so much as it is from the fact I wasn't allowed out of my bedroom." Aelita continued before either Polaris or Jeremy could say anything else. If only Ligaya were still alive! She would've buzzed around their heads or pulled their hair, and hopefully the boys would've at least pretended to get along… The human girl shook her head. With any luck, the talk of the illness she and Polaris shared would take her mind off of the deceased pixie girl.

Polaris nodded. "A wise decision," He merely said.

"What was a wise decision?" She asked.

"Your parents decided to keep you in your bedroom, correct?" He asked. She nodded in response. "Our skin is extremely photosensitive and easily penetrated. In addition, our bodies focus on curing our illness before anything else, so we have very weak immune systems." Their guide explained, "Although, I believe I may be more photosensitive than you. Humans, after all, are creatures of the day. My ancestors lived in dark underwater places."

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of creatures were your ancestors?"

Polaris thought for a while. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. I believe they were somehow related to selkies, but that is only a guess."

Jeremy tried not to laugh. After all, even if you didn't know your parents—which he assumed must have been true for their guide—it was hard to look in a mirror and _not_ know what you were. He shrugged on the inside. Polaris knew he was a type of aquatic creature, and the oceans were huge, after all…

* * *

Eventually, Yggdrasil was close enough that its massiveness had more an effect on the teens. It was like a colossal ash tree, and enormous voices shook its branches. "_Worry not,_" Avalon said, "_The Norse gods have daily meetings here. They should be finished before long._" The dragon's telepathic voice had somehow changed, for it seemed more mature and androgynous.

Surrounding the World Tree was a square stone building, and it seemed to protect the tree. It was high enough so Yggdrasil's lowest-hanging branches formed curtains for the highest of the small windows. Though what stuck out the most about the building was that it had no door, but instead had a rather simplified picture of Yggdrasil inside a circle painted on it in faded white paint. As they approached it, the top of the circle flashed white light, and it quickly ran along the circle until it reached its starting point. Polaris quickly followed the line of Yggdrasil with his finger, and when he'd finished, the entire picture glowed. As quickly as the light had come it vanished, and some of the stones backed into the wall. Finally, in a jagged line, the separated into the wall, revealing a narrow passage.

Polaris entered first, followed by Avalon. Aelita glanced up to Jeremy, who shrugged before walking cautiously into the darkness of the passage. The human girl scurried after him. Even though she was tiny, she still seemed to be almost too big to fit, with her shoulders rubbing against the stones as she walked blindly. She held her hands out the best she could, in case the passage should have a turn. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was walk into a wall and seem stupid.

The atmosphere went cold, and there was a red flash. A hand with long fingers touched Aelita's shoulder. Reluctantly, she looked up. Red eyes looked down at her, and she could make out a sinister figure. "T_h_i_s_ _i_s _n_o_t_ a _d_r_i_l_l_," The figure said, smiling a horrible smile of sharp yellow teeth that were larger than Aelita's eyes.

Needless to say, the human girl screamed and ran the best she could in the inconveniently narrow passage. She kept on until someone grabbed both of her arms. "I heard you scream. Are you alright?" She heard Jeremy ask. Aelita opened her eyes. The elf boy holding her arms seemed concerned, as did the dragon and their guide, standing behind him. "What the hell did you do to your shoulder?" He added, and she saw that she was bleeding where the figure had touched her.

She spoke nonsense for a while, but her words eventually caught up with her, "…a thing. There was this thing… in the passageway… and it was really… _really…_ scary!" She explained as another red flash came from behind her. For a moment, she thought that she was the only one who could see the red hue it gave her surroundings—which was partly true—but then she saw that the flash had attracted the others' attention, too. Polaris calmly approached the passage, and with a wave of his hand, it closed.

"There," He announced, "whatever you saw, it cannot get to you now." Their guide walked over to Avalon and removed Ligaya from the dragon's back. He first stumbled over the sudden weight placed on his arms, but managed to say, "I will bring Ligaya to m—Menelwen. If and when she wishes to see you, I will escort you to her." With a sudden burst of strength Polaris lifted Ligaya up higher, and he walked away as quickly as he could under her weight.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to MoonlitxAngel, I now know how to put the web address here! Once again, the address is http:/a-queenoffairys(dot)deviantart(dot)com/gallery/#/d3dmfxc . Obviously, the (dot)s are dots(.)! I'm pretty sure that only one of those (dot)s are needed, but rather safe than sorry, am I right?


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter Nineteen: Shadows of Salvation_

Menelwen was a tall woman, with dark brown hair that reached her ankles and pretty brown eyes with varying rings in the iris. She had regal high-arching eyebrows and tanned skin. The matron of the Protectorate Building had painted four green dots beneath her left eye and had woven the new leaves of Yggdrasil into a circlet, which she wore about her head. The dress she wore was made of bark from trees that had fallen during storms and cloth that was made to look like leaves far away. It sounded like leaves in the wind when she walked.

Polaris entered the room, and Menelwen turned. She looked at the deceased pixie girl in his arms and gasped—she had the ability to see into the nearby future, but unlike the past, the future was not set in stone and therefore the picture was always somewhat fuzzy. "You poor child!" She exclaimed, "What horror has been inflicted upon you that would waste your life in such a way?"

"An arrow," Polaris answered. "I wouldn't tell our guests this, but I don't think it was meant for her, but that she merely got in the way. Though, if this is correct, it is impossible to tell if the arrow was truly meant for Avalon, Aelita or Jeremy." He handed the corpse up to the matron.

She placed Ligaya in her lap and closed her eyes. Menelwen touched Ligaya's throat and began to sing quietly. She could see a sort of energy-draining prison where her pixie children suffered, and her song changed. Unexpectedly, the pixie girl in her lap returned to her original size, startling both Menelwen and Polaris. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, they both laughed, and the matron began to sing again.

The air around Yggdrasil became filled with enlarged pixies that shrank to their original size. The light was blinding until more than half of the lights dimmed and the pixies that had once given it off fell, dead. In one day, less than half of the energy born of Yggdrasil and materialized by Aelita had died, though it did not mean it couldn't be recollected. In time, the pixies would change appearance and be reborn rather than decay, though this would only happen should the World Tree shade them as their transformation took place.

The living pixies danced around in the sky, ecstatic with their homecoming. "Do not be so hasty to celebrate!" Menelwen advised, "You, too, will face your end should you not be easy!" The dancing slowed, and when the leaves of Yggdrasil shook only in the wind, the pixies crowded the branches like birds in the roost.

After Menelwen and Polaris had placed the deceased pixies in the shadow of the World Tree, a shadow passed overhead. It passed to quickly for a name to be put to it, but the aura it left was cold and malevolent. Yggdrasil's limbs shook from the frightened pixies' shivering. "That would be the third time the shadow has passed this week. What is going on here?" Menelwen asked rhetorically. "Regardless, you did bring the princess and her, uh…" She paused, as if what she said next had to be phrased carefully even in front of a person such as Polaris.

"Friend?" He offered. The matron nodded. "Yes; would you like me to show them in?"

"Yes, please do." She said. Polaris bowed respectfully and ran from the room. When he found the teens he'd escorted once more, he motioned for them to follow him, and then walked back towards the room he'd just left. He allowed Aelita and Jeremy to enter before him, and when Menelwen heard the teens enter, she turned around to face them.

When Aelita saw Menelwen standing before the might World Tree, she faintly recalled seeing a similar scene many years ago—the matron seemed taller then, but Yggdrasil stood silent, steadfast and serene as ever, and about the same width, probably meaning it had grown considerably since she'd last seen it. But the major difference was that the building surrounding it was not there back then. She came back to reality when the matron smiled and said, "It's good to see you once again, Princess Aelita. Your expression says that you remember me somewhat."

The human girl blinked. "I—I only remember you standing where you are now…" She shook her head. "But I don't want you to call me 'princess.' I don't really like it."

"My apologizes, of course," Menelwen curtsied. She turned to Jeremy and smiled again. "And it's good to meet you, finally, Jeremy. I am Menelwen, matron of the Protectorate Building."

"Uh, I guess you already know my name!" The elf boy laughed in spite of himself.

The matron nodded. "I apologize for bringing you here in such a tense time. I did not know that bringing you all here through Ligaya would involve her death. It weighs heavily on all of us." She looked up to the branches of Yggdrasil. "But like a phoenix, the life cycle of the Forest pixies is never-ending, and soon, her energy shall be reborn.

"But I digress. I understand, Jeremy, that you and your companions work to end the war?" She asked.

"Less the war in general than keeping it out of Washington D.C." Jeremy shrugged.

"Still, your involvement helps further its end. I hope that, when it ends, the Royal Family shall be able to return to power. Lyoko is so desperately in need of their guidance. Although, you shall never know how ecstatic I was to hear of your survival, Aelita."

Aelita flinched. "How did you find out, anyway?"

"Partially through the Forest, which alerted me of your arrival the first time you came, but also through stories told of you and Jeremy in Marumi Village." Menelwen smiled. "In fact, Jeremy, I think you may have become even more popular than the Royal Family! Many seem to think that you'll be the first—" She seemed to think twice about what she was about to say, and closed her mouth before she said it. "Never you mind. It is only a rumor; nothing more than a rumor…"

The elf boy raised an eyebrow in confusion, but he said nothing to instigate her.

"My word, I digress once more…" The matron shook her head. "Aelita, how are your parents?"

The human girl rolled her eyes. "Overprotective, to say the least. You should've seen them a few weeks ago!" She seemed to be about to tell a story, but Jeremy placed a hand on her shoulder. Aelita sighed. "I guess this is the part where you tell me I should respect what my parents do for me, huh?"

"I cannot tell you what you should and should not do. I can only tell you that your parents chose your life over the death of you and your father, and they protect you the way they do because of advice given to them by your grandfather and I." Her response was so casual, as if it made total sense.

"Pardon?" Aelita asked.

"Have they not told you?"

"Not told me _what?_"

Menelwen looked over the heads of Jeremy and Aelita to look at Polaris. "Polaris, please run to the library and fetch me Xanadu's photo album," She said, and he nodded before running out. "I won't go into great detail, my dear, but I will tell you that your family called 'the Human Royalty' for a reason. In the early days of Lyoko, there were no laws technically forbidding creatures from being in relationships with your family, but after a few generations, those laws came to be. There were two reasons for this—the first being humanity has a bad habit of desiring forbidden fruit, if you understand the metaphor, and the second being because just like humans desired magical creatures, magical creatures desired humans.

"It sounds a lot more one-sided than it really is. Humans of your bloodline usually were in love with the creatures who loved them, but the Creature Council who helped the monarchy make decisions feared that by allowing creature blood into a bloodline that was supposed to be human, it would give creatures a reason to rebel. Whenever a creature was discovered to be in a relationship with a member of the Royal Family, regardless if it was innocent or otherwise, they would usually be put to death.

"They did this in hopes to convince the Human Royalty to remain human, and to convince creatures to do the same." Menelwen brushed a loose hair from her face. "As time went on, however, humans and creatures would get sneakier and sneakier, and the Council added the burning of hometowns to the list of punishments, so it would punish entire communities, not just the Royal Family and the families of the deceased creatures.

"Your grandmother on your mother's side was a creature from a town called Amityville*, which is also where your father's family came from. Her relationship with your grandfather was so sneaky she actually had three children with the Human King of that time, your mother and your aunts. Your mother was the oldest at thirteen, and your aunts were both too small to know what was going on. The girls were forced to separate themselves from their creature halves, and the creature halves were killed alongside your grandmother.

"It was closer to the time when the burning villages had just begun, so not many knew that it was part of the law, and your mother did manage to save about half of Amityville's population. Your half-sister Laurelei was born on that day, but her mother later died of fatal burns—"

"Hold on a second, Laurelei is _really_ Aelita's half-sister?" Jeremy interrupted.

Menelwen held up a finger. "Please, Jeremy, it isn't polite to interrupt. I'm going to get to that." She said. "In any case, your grandfather on your mother's side died that night, too, but under mysterious circumstances. Without a ruler to lead them, your mother was crowned queen within the week.

"With this came great responsibility and stress, especially on one so young as your mother, and raising a child all by himself gave similar burdens to your father, though he received help from his parents. So they found solace in each other and became friends, soon more than friends…" Menelwen seemed to skip over a part in her mind here, "…and your mother quickly found herself in what she thought was the exact same predicament as her own mother. But the difference was that your father was half-human, so you were seventy-five percent human.

"Anthea feared that you and your father would suffer the same fate as her mother, so she begged Franz to separate his human and creature halves, so the human half could marry her and they could claim you were born early. Eventually, they would separate you and the part of you that wasn't human, and they could live and rule Lyoko peacefully.

"Their plan mostly worked, despite a few bumps along the way, up until your birth. Absolutely no human nor creature throughout Lyoko believed you were entirely human—mostly human, they said, but not completely—but they didn't know why they thought this. You really did look like a baby that had been born early; you were smaller than most babies and you got sick easily. Because of this, Xanadu warned that if you were separated from the creature in you, you'd develop the illness that you stand before me today with."

Aelita was thoroughly shocked. "My parents never told me this," She said subconsciously, seeing why they wouldn't want to. "But if they knew I was going to get sick, why did they separate me from… well, me?"

Menelwen nervously smoothed her dress. "They weren't going to, at first. Then the Council suggested that as you grew older you'd cause trouble among the creatures, and at first even this wouldn't change your parents' mind. But by the time you were three years old, you were developing the cat-like pupils and sharp teeth that were common to the type of faerie your father was descended from, the Council demanded that you be separated, or they'd kill you."

At that moment, Polaris reentered the room, holding a photo album. "Ah! Thank you, Polaris." The matron thanked him before opening the album and flipping through the pages. "Xanadu bought a disposable camera to capture first Laurelei's life, and then yours, Aelita. Well, 'a' disposable camera is a bit of an understatement…"

Polaris scoffed. "More like a hundred disposable cameras…" He muttered.

Menelwen hushed him, and then laughed. "It's completely irrelevant, but this is one of my favorites," She showed Jeremy and Aelita a photo of Franz and Anthea standing next to a crib, giggling at one another. Franz's hand rested on a baby's arm, while the other arm was raised in the air. The color had faded over the years, but enough color remained for the teens to see the tangled mess of pink locks on the baby's head. "Your parents saw you asleep with one arm in the air, and when they pushed it down, you lifted the other up." The matron laughed again, and it seemed even the branches of the World Tree shook with laughter of such a pleasant memory. Regardless, she skimmed the pages, still smiling.

At long last, she finally came to a newspaper clipping. It was something she had added to the album, and she pulled it out and handed it to Aelita. "You probably can't read it, my dear, but it once said that your parents separated you from your creature part, even though the public had unanimously decided they cared not. I showed this to your parents, and when they read the poll, they were outraged."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but if they could separate me, couldn't they put me—or us, I suppose—back?" The human girl asked.

"In theory, yes." The matron nodded. "But only if your creature part had survived. She didn't have enough of truly anything to survive without you. Even if she had survived, she would've been so sickly by the time this poll came out that she would've died before anything could be done."

Aelita looked from the faded, tattered newspaper clipping to Jeremy, and then Menelwen. She handed it back to the matron, her arm shaking. Menelwen carefully slid it back into place.

* * *

*You all remember that place.


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter Twenty: Brick by Brick_

It was hard for Aelita to accept, especially considering all the suffering the gancanagh had put her and her friends through, but looking at Xanadu's photos, it seemed like she, Yumi and Laurelei had been close friends when they were younger. Yumi probably didn't even remember it, but there were countless photos of the three girls, Laurelei the oldest by many years, of them together, laughing. But one photo in particular caught her eye—she didn't remember it being taken—but it was close to Laurelei's face and her own, where they embraced each other with wide grins. In this picture, it was easy for the human girl to see the cat-like irises and pointed teeth Menelwen said she'd once possessed.

But Laurelei didn't resemble the girl in the photo, at least not anymore. The girl in the photo had dark hair, but it was cropped shorter than Yumi's hair in earlier photos. Aelita was most likely three, but Laurelei looked about eleven, which meant she was roughly twenty-one currently.

"Oh my gosh," The human girl said aloud.

"What?" Jeremy, who sat next to her, asked.

Aelita looked to the elf boy. "Is Laurelei twenty-one?"

He nodded. "Yeah," He answered nonchalantly, "What's your point?"

"She's seven years older than you!"

"And…?"

She stared at him, slightly disturbed. He found her expression somewhat amusing, but he didn't show it. "That's…" She paused. "…sort of illegal in America, isn't it? For people over eighteen to date people under eighteen*?" She asked, and he did laugh at her comment.

"You don't know the half of it," Jeremy muttered to himself. Directing his attention to her, he said, "Yeah, it's a fun fact. Here's another one—she's bisexual**, which means—"

"I know," Aelita interrupted him, "what it means."

"No, I don't think you do!" He said, but he let the matter drop.

The two stopped talking, and suddenly, they heard something that sounded like a brick being shoved out of place. Jeremy saw it first, and then Avalon, who sat at Aelita's feet, and finally the human girl by following their line of sight. One of the bricks had moved ever so slightly out of place, and before their eyes, it moved again, but more dramatically. The dragon jumped up, and it took on a more dramatic size and appearance. The points at the end of its jaw grew to massive horns, and its claws grew longer as well as hooked. An arrow-like bone had grown from the sides of its tail to connect in a point at the tip, and some of its teeth showed when its mouth was closed.

Avalon looked to first Aelita, and then to Jeremy. "_Protect her,_" it said to the elf boy. Just before the brick finally slid out of place and hit the floor, the dragon's eyes began to glow white and it added with a completely masculine voice, "_and run._"

When the brick hit the floor, the hallway before them quickly became overrun by darkness. Jeremy jumped, and Aelita watched it. "_I said run!_" Avalon shouted, its mouth opening and closing with the words but not forming the shapes needed to say them. It turned to the shadows and blew white-hot fire, and a peculiar smell filled the air where it reached the darkness, and that smell could only be described as charred darkness.

The human girl pulled Jeremy's arm, and he snapped back to reality. They ran down the hall, away from the only exit they knew of other than the windows. And even if they could leave, where would they go? The darkness could be surrounding the Protectorate Building, for all they knew. After all, night had fallen, and even in the Forest, where the power Aelita had once possessed and the steadfast Yggdrasil met in one place, evil could be lurking.

Avalon, when it knew the two teens had run out of the corridor, was still unwilling to let the darkness get past it. Whatever shadows prevailed over its white fire, Avalon struck with its arrowhead tail. Some shadows rammed into its large wings.

The dragon would never brag, but once, people had called it 'the Dragon that Shadows Fear.' And even the Dark Shadows, redundant, cruel and mighty as they were, could not bring death to it, not even if they were to slash at its soft spots. Avalon could also strike at the shadows and cause them pain, though they were persistent buggers. But it thought of them no different than a human thought of vermin in their house—disgusting, insignificant creatures in need of extermination.

Even with its defensive skill and clear advantage, too many Dark Shadows passed by it to be struck by its tail to its liking. The dragon exhaled a mighty sphere of fire, which eliminated any shadow passing near it, and then the dragon awkwardly beckoned the sphere towards it. The shadows vaporized as the sphere passed through Avalon, but the red scales that covered its body turned silver. Where red skin had been, there was white skin. The dragon was also larger in both length and width. It roared, and the battle was on. White inferno engulfed the hallway, and its tail struck the shadows with fury, speed and precision.

* * *

"I think we should be safe here," Jeremy said after inspecting a well-lit room with no windows. With Aelita's help, he'd torn off cloth from a blanket to block the crack between the door and the floor, and he'd torn off strips from his own clothing, too, to seal smaller cracks between bricks. "Care to explain to me what the hell is going on?" He demanded.

The human girl looked up at him shamefully, and then down to her feet. "I don't know," She lied.

"Oh, really?" He said skeptically. "So this has nothing to do with why Avalon told me to protect you, or why when I first saw you again after months apart you looked like an insomniac, or why you're afraid to sleep alone?"

Aelita flinched. Then, coolly, she said, "How should I know why Avalon told you to protect me? As for me not sleeping, I was worried about you because of Lyna's letter, and I like being near you."

He rolled his eyes. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying," She said.

"Maybe not, but you aren't telling the truth, either." He stared at her for a while, and she stared back. "So, are you going to tell me or what?"

"What's my alternative?" She asked, probably meaning to be smart rather than serious.

Jeremy covered her mouth with one hand and plugged her nose with the other. It wasn't long before the human girl started hitting him to make him let go. "Are you ready to talk?" The elf boy asked, taking his hands away.

The human girl panted for a while, and then demanded, "_Why_… would you even… _do_ that… you… goddamn… fuckwad?"

This time, Jeremy flinched. "We're such a bad influence on you," He commented. "Don't go saying that to your parents, okay?" He shook his head. "Anyway, are you ready to fess up?"

She didn't respond right away, still breathing heavy. The elf boy reached for her again, but she smacked his hands away. "Give me a… minute… Jeremy; you just… tried to… suffocate… me!"

"I would've let go after you passed out…"

"Why doesn't… that… make me feel… better?"

"Sorry." She looked at him skeptically. "I am… I _am!_"

He shrugged. He allowed her to catch her breath, and awaited her response. "…Started having… the nightmares back in… December… after I was kidnapped… kept having them after… that." She took a deep breath, and her breathing seemed to be regulating. "I learned recently that… they were more than just nightmares. Gus said that… they're called Dark Shadows. We didn't tell you… because it was just one more thing you… would have to worry about."

The elf boy sat down, and she slid down the wall to sit next to him. "I guess I would've been pretty mad about it, too," He said, "I don't know why, either. It's not like you can control these things." He looked up towards the ceiling. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then something tried to force open the door. Jeremy jumped up and put his weight on the door, and it closed.

"Princess Aelita? Jeremy? Are you two in there?" Polaris asked from the other side.

Jeremy looked to Aelita, and the human girl motioned for him to let Polaris in. He hesitated, and she motioned again. He opened the door with a sigh.

Polaris ran into the room, and he looked around. Their guide looked around and gently pushed Aelita away from where she sat. He tapped the stones until they opened, revealing a wardrobe. He tore through the drawers of the wardrobe, tossing things from sparring knives to bits and pieces of armor behind him as he searched for something. Polaris finally opened the doors of the wardrobe, revealing a complete suit of armor. He felt behind the armor, knocking it off-balance. The helmet came crashing down, and the elf boy dived for it. "Nice catch," Polaris said.

"Thanks," Jeremy's tone was bitter. He passed the helmet to Aelita, who was surprised with its weight.

Polaris and Jeremy moved what remained of the armor, and their guide opened a small door that the armor had hidden. He reached inside of the hole. "Here, Jeremy, your try. My arms aren't long enough," He finally admitted.

The elf boy approached it cautiously. "It's just a hole, right? I'm not going to find anything creepy back there, like snakes or spiders, right?" He asked.

"Not that I know of. M—Menelwen is trying her best to help Avalon contain the intruding shadows, but she said that there was something back there that she needed." Polaris explained. "She didn't say anything about snakes or spiders."

The boys conversed, but Aelita had stopped listening. She was lost in thought as she stared at the helmet. It was covered in nicks, and it was so dingy that she couldn't see her reflection in it. "What was this armor used for?" She asked.

Polaris looked to her. "It was worn by—" He seemed to think better about what he was saying. "—the knights that served in your family's court."

She looked at him skeptically, but didn't pester him about it. "Ah! I think I found it!" Jeremy exclaimed, and he pulled his arm out. He looked to an old-looking object with disappointment. "What a letdown! This is just some stupid old mirror!"

His face changed to one of disappointment to disbelief as his reflection changed in the mirror. The reflection that was meant to be his now had skin darker than ebony; a shade of pure black so dark he almost looked two-dimensional since virtually no light highlighted it. His blond hair was white, and after he blinked, his eyes were red. Frightened, he threw the mirror away from him, and Polaris caught it. "Please be careful with this!" Their guide scolded.

"That thing is _evil,_" Jeremy said, "Evil and cursed."

Their guide looked to his own reflection, but there was nothing wrong with it. He held it so he could see the elf boy's reflection, and nearly dropped it with surprise. Aelita put down the helmet and took the mirror from Polaris. There was something wrong with her own reflection—she was surrounded by darkness and dripping with blood—but when she looked to Polaris' reflection, she saw nothing but a reversed image of how she normally saw him. Jeremy's reflection, however, did seem different, but not the way he or Polaris had seen it. She couldn't put her finger on it, though… "You guys are so melodramatic." She shook her head. She offered the mirror to Polaris. "Here. Take it to Menelwen, Polaris."

"M—Menelwen wanted Jeremy to bring it to her." He said.

"_Me?_" The elf boy asked. "Why me?"

Polaris shrugged. "I wouldn't know. She's a funny woman."

Jeremy looked from their guide to the human girl, who seemed worried. He huffed, and he took the mirror from Aelita. "I'll be back soon, okay?" He said with a smile. She didn't smile back. He huffed again, walked to the door and saluted the two teens before walking out.

* * *

*I have no idea what this law is anywhere else.

* * *

**I apologize to anyone reading this who is bisexual for having to share a sexuality with the bitch.


	21. Chapter 21

_Chapter Twenty-One: Disk of Ra_

Avalon sent a stream of fire to clear a path for Menelwen to walk through. The matron's hair was messy, and singed at the ends in some places. She approached a window, noticed the clouds covering the moon, and waved her hand. The clouds parted, and moonlight shone into the Protectorate building. Thunder boomed in the background. Lightning flashed, followed by another crack of thunder.

The dragon sent a blast of inferno towards the collecting shadows, and when Menelwen heard Jeremy approaching, she blocked their path with a translucent wall of light. Avalon stepped away from the wall, and the matron silently took the mirror from the elf boy as he rounded the corner. Then, she calmly placed the mirror in the moonlight.

The mirror collected the moonlight, its reflective surface clouded from it. Avalon and Menelwen stepped behind the mirror, and the matron waved her hand to make the wall of light disappear. The shadows flew towards the three creatures, and the mirror fired the light it had collected. Most of the shadows withered away, yet a few remained, dazed. Menelwen grabbed Jeremy's wrist and gently placed his hand on Avalon's shoulder. The few remaining shadows vanished, and it began to rain on the Protectorate building.

Menelwen walked forward and collected the mirror. "Menelwen," Jeremy said. "What just happened?"

"The Dark Shadows that were searching for Aelita have been fought back, for now, at least. They may return." Menelwen said.

"No, I mean, what happened with the mirror?" He clarified. "I looked at it before I brought it to you, and it showed no sign of being capable to…" He motioned with his arm at the place the darkness had overrun. "Do… that. What _is_ it?"

"Oh! Why did you not say that?" She said. "I'm sure you are familiar with Ra?"

"If by 'familiar', you mean that I've heard of him, yes. He's the Egyptian god of the sun. But I've never met him personally." The elf boy approached her.

"This mirror was crafted by one of the sun disks he wears. It collects moonlight and transforms it into sunlight." She held the mirror at eye level. The clouds had parted, and she removed it from the moonlight. "It can be used to dispel darkness. Knowing its power, Ra gave the mirror to me when the Protectorate building was built. I kept it hidden, hoping I would never have to use it…" She stood and faced him.

He looked at her strangely. "I've never heard of it. I thought Amaterasu was the sun goddess with the mirror."

Menelwen smiled. "She is. You haven't heard of this mirror because it isn't mentioned in Egyptian mythology, if memory serves. But like there is more than one god of the sun, there is more than one mirror." Her face became serious. "What did you see in your reflection, Jeremy?"

The elf boy paused. His face turned white, and he looked down to his feet. "I—I saw a, uh…"

Avalon nudged him. "_Out with it, boy!_" The dragon commanded as its body shrank and its red scales returned.

Jeremy nudged it back. "There was a drow in my reflection. You know, a dark elf in my place."

"That isn't uncommon for elves who look in the mirror." Menelwen said, walking towards the room where Aelita and Polaris hid. "The mirror shows one's greatest fear about themselves. Those who fear nothing about what they could become see nothing wrong with their reflection. Those who do see that in place of their true reflection. Some, like Polaris, can see the fears of others." She looked to her reflection. There was nothing abnormal about it. "And many elves fear that they could become a drow, regardless of whether or not it can happen…"

For a while, they walked in silence, and then they reached the door to the room where Aelita and Polaris hid. Menelwen forced the door open, slid inside and removed the cloth so she could open the door the remainder of the way. Avalon entered the room first, and then Jeremy after. Aelita rushed into his arms, as if they'd been separated for years, though it had only been a few minutes. The human girl then hugged Avalon's neck, and she said, "I'm guessing it went well, since you're all back unharmed." She smiled, and when no one smiled back, hers vanished. "It… did go well, didn't it? I'm sure you wouldn't come back here if the Dark Shadows were still there."

Jeremy nodded. "We got rid of them for now, but…" He paused, glanced to the matron, who nodded before placing the mirror back in its place in the wardrobe. The elf boy helped her pick up the pieces of the armor. "…Menelwen says that they'll probably be back."

Aelita flinched. Avalon placed its head on her shoulder to comfort her. "_I will fly us back to Washington D.C when the storm blows over. There we can see if Gus has any advice for destroying them permanently._" The dragon said.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Menelwen said as she closed the doors to the wardrobe. "A monster has been circling the islands of Lyoko after nights of storm since it reconnected with Earth a few months ago. I don't know for sure what it is, but it strikes down anything flying overhead, and many boats. It tends to leave smaller boats without motors alone, though."

"What are you suggesting? That we _row_ back to D.C?" Jeremy demanded.

The matron shook her head. "No, I think it would be better if you row to another island nearby and use one of the Towers to get to the mainland in the west." There was another clap of thunder. "But you should still wait for the storm to pass." She smiled.

* * *

Aelita placed the photo album in the bag Menelwen had given her, as well as the food the matron had also provided for them. She slung the bag over her shoulders, and she stood there for a moment, just thinking. The storm had stopped late in the evening, but they'd waited until morning to get ready to leave. The human girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Her hands trembled, and she curled and uncurled them into fists. She felt a hand slide into her hand, and she looked at Jeremy. "You ready?" He asked.

She nodded. "I am when you are," She felt Avalon rub its head against her leg. "Hi, Avalon."

"You'll want this," Menelwen said. Jeremy and Aelita turned, and the matron handed them a folded piece of paper. "This map shows the islands that make up the Forest Sector. There's a Tower on the island north of here, as well as a small town that I would recommend you avoid."

"Why?" Jeremy asked.

There was a long pause. "I would just recommend that you avoid it." Menelwen finally said.

The elf boy looked at her strangely, but Aelita took the map. "Thank you, Menelwen. For everything."

"It was my pleasure, princess. Now, go. Try to get home before night falls again." She said as Polaris opened the path for the trio.

When they had gone through the path, and the way had closed behind them, Polaris stood next to Menelwen, and they stood there in silence. "What are the odds that they avoid the town, Mother?" Polaris asked.

"They probably won't." Menelwen sighed. "But I hope they do."

* * *

The Forest must've been too busy repairing itself after the storm to create a path for the trio to follow. Jeremy climbed over a fallen tree, helped Aelita over it and watched as Avalon merely jumped it. The Forest was denser and wilder in the part they walked through, and without the path, they were only wandering. "Hey, do you hear that?" Jeremy asked suddenly.

"No, why?" Aelita responded.

He was silent for a moment. "Either I'm daydreaming, or I hear the ocean," He said, running towards the source of the noise. She followed him, excited, having never seen the ocean. The dragon chased after both of them.

Soon, the Forest broke out, and they could see a cliff that overlooked to ocean. It was like something out of a movie; the grassy cliff overlooking the blue ocean, the island on the map that Menelwen had pointed out large on the horizon. The island was overflowing with jungle vegetation that spilled out over the edges of the island, and seemed to drip down into the ocean. "Wow," Aelita finally said. "This is _beautiful!_ Too bad it smells strange."

Jeremy laughed. "Yeah, saltwater is the name of the game around here, I guess." He said, approaching the cliff. He looked down. There was no ladder, no vines or even rocks fit for climbing on the side. It was bumpy, of course, but the rocks looked slippery. "Well, it doesn't look like there's another way down. As that guy always said, _leap before you think_*_!_" The elf boy jumped off the side of the cliff feet first. When he hit the sand below, he noticed Aelita and Avalon already standing at the foot of the cliff.

"_Nice of you to join us._" The dragon commented.

"Hold on a second, I jumped before both of you! How did you get here before I did?" He asked.

Aelita pointed to a staircase carved into the cliff. "There are stairs in the cliff. We ran down those."

Jeremy stared at the stairs. "Are you fucking_ kidding _me?" He shouted. "How did I miss _that?_"

The human girl pointed to the beach. "Before you do anything else rash, there's already a canoe here, too."

He followed her finger. "Oh, well, what do you know? That's strangely convenient." The elf boy said as he walked towards the canoe.

Avalon and Aelita watched him for a moment. The dragon looked up to her. "_You aren't going to tell him you slipped on the stairs, are you?_" It asked.

"Why should I?" She shrugged as she walked towards Jeremy and the canoe.

* * *

*He's talking about Issun from '_Okami_'. Maybe that bug-man is quoting someone else, but I heard it from him!

* * *

A/N: Finish off with an amusing bang, I say!


	22. Chapter 22

_Chapter Twenty-Two: Across the Ocean_

Jeremy sat in the center, Aelita in front of him and Avalon behind him, down to a size that about equaled the human girl's weight, as to not make the canoe heavier on one side than the other. The elf boy rowed, and the human girl stared out to sea, her face expressionless. "Can you imagine people do this for living?" She asked. "I mean, we're surrounded by water on all sides. We've barely been here for more than a few minutes, and I'm already _bored_ to _death!_"

"Look, you aren't rowing the damn thing!" The elf boy snapped.

She flinched. "Sorry. Can I help?"

He shook his head. "No, you probably won't be much help…"

The human girl crossed her arms. "Why not?" She demanded. "Believe it or not, I'm not totally helpless!"

"Aelita, have you ever rowed a canoe, or even been in a boat?" He asked.

"No,"

"Then if you were to take up an oar and help, we'd be here for an hour either going in a circle or just talking while I try to explain to you how to do it!"

She thought about that. "That is a good point!"

"I'm just full of those…" He muttered.

Avalon shook its head and watched as the fish under the canoe swam about. How easy it must've been to be a fish! There was nowhere to go, and with few people about who hunted fish, there was no danger other than the few sharks that dared Lyoko's water. The dragon repositioned itself so its paw dangled over the edge of the canoe and its claw displaced the water it touched. The fish darted away from its claw, but otherwise didn't leave the area. Secretly, Avalon wished that it could swim, and while it could swim if its head was above water, it couldn't stay below water as long as humanoid creatures because—

The fishes darted away quickly, as if something had startled them. Avalon removed its claw from the water and pulled its paw back into the canoe, yet its eyes never turned from the ocean. "Avalon? What's the matter?" It heard Aelita ask.

Jeremy yelped when the oar he held was pulled under the water. He and Aelita turned to the water and watched it, like the dragon did. A large dark area formed on the surface. It was hard to tell, but it seemed to be three times the size of an airplane, but shaped rather like an eel. "Okay, time for Plan B!" The elf boy declared, standing up in the canoe, which caused it to rock back and forth.

"Plan B?" The human girl exclaimed. "What's Plan B? I didn't even know we _had_ a Plan B! I thought this _was_ Plan B!" As she said this, teal fins broke the surface of the ocean. "Plan A was to have Avalon fly us home!"

"Fine, then—Plan C!" He shouted his correction. Jeremy held his hands palm-down over his head, and a bulge of water caused the canoe to rock again. Slowly, he brought his arms down level to his shoulders, palms facing Aelita. A small wave sent the canoe forward a bit. He spun his arms like a pinwheel, and the canoe shot forward. The human girl was forced down into the body of the canoe, and Avalon to the very back of it.

A giant creature jumped out of the water, and sent itself over the canoe. Had Jeremy not ducked at that moment, the monster probably would've taken him with it as it dived back into the depths of the ocean. It seemed to take five minutes before the creature was gone, though it didn't return after that. It didn't appear to have an interest in the canoe. The trio sat there in silence, staring at the place where the monster had disappeared until the oar came into view with a tiny 'plop,' completely unharmed.

They regained their senses. "Well, there's our oar," The elf boy said, taking the glasses off of his face and handing them to Aelita.

She didn't think anything off it for a second. "Wait, what are you doing?" She asked rhetorically. "Don't jump into the—" Her order came too late. Jeremy dived into the saltwater and began to swim out to the oar. "…ocean. Why do I even bother?"

When he finally climbed back into the canoe, Jeremy was greeted by an aggravated Aelita rubbing her temple. "What?" He asked, oblivious.

"I don't know how, but I think you missed that giant sea monster that just leapt over us!" She said.

"No, I saw it. It was huge," He said.

"Why would you risk your life for an _oar?_" She demanded.

He didn't say anything right away. "I was trying…" He started, "…to get us… to… the… island." The elf boy didn't seem confident about his answer.

"Why didn't you just use you water powers to bring the oar to you?" She asked. He thought for a moment. He didn't seem to come up with a good answer in that time, so he merely shrugged and began to row the canoe again. "For a smart guy, you're pretty dumb, aren't you?"

"I've been told that," The elf boy said. "In any case, we're a lot closer now than we were. Look,"

The human girl turned around as the canoe went past a large rock pillar standing straight out of the water. She could see the island's beach, which was white, like no one had ever walked it. It, like the one of the island they had left, was located lower than the forest with a staircase carved into the rocks, though the rocks were brown where the others had been grey. There were only five or six steps.

When the canoe beached, the trio jumped out of the boat and then pulled it further up, so it wouldn't be washed out to sea. Aelita pulled the map from the bag and opened it. "This map doesn't show where the Towers are," She said. "Although, I guess we can rule out the town. Menelwen told us to avoid it."

Jeremy looked over her shoulder. He found the beach on the map, and then the town. It was northeast of the beach, towards the center of the island. The elf boy supposed that was a clearing or where the forest was densest, depending on the inhabitants. "Though, if the town wanted to trade with other towns, the Tower couldn't be too far off. It only makes sense if they aren't on the coast."

"I guess so. But are we really going to take that chance?" She asked.

"I'm not saying that specifically," He shrugged. "But I'm not saying that we should totally rule it out, either."

"The way I see it, people don't usually tell you to do something or not to do something without a reason." She said.

"What about your parents? They didn't want us to date."

"Because I'm sick and your life is in danger,"

"Okay, I'll give you that."

The human girl smiled and folded up the map. "I guess we're wandering, then." She said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," The elf boy crossed his arms behind his head.

"Don't make me hit you!" Aelita snapped. He held up his hands.

* * *

Twilight shrouded the forest, and the trio had become hopelessly lost. They'd avoided the town, like Menelwen had said, yet it was probably the only area they hadn't checked. They were tired, hungry and sick of walking. Jeremy was half asleep when he heard someone talking east of where the trio stood. He concentrated on the voice. "Eternal rotten, return my heart…" The voice was female, and her voice shook. It faded in and out, so the elf boy wasn't sure that he'd heard her right. He gently grasped Aelita's wrist and pulled her along as he moved towards the voice. "Opera, thou make it impossible to earn our place…" When he found the source of the voice, he found it was a woman, early to mid-twenties.

But it wasn't really a woman, but more of a ghost, the spirit of a dead woman. She wore a white tunic that was soaked in blood. Her hair was blood red and reached her shoulder blades. Her white leggings were ripped and had blood drops stained in them. She was barefoot. She held her legs in her thin, long arms, and she had butterfly wings. Her body was transparent, and when he pointed her out to Aelita, the human girl apparently couldn't see her. The ghost looked to Jeremy, who froze. She shifted her position, and he could see that she'd probably died because someone had opened up her chest and removed her heart. "Leave this place, elf boy, lest you suffer my fate…" That was all she said before she vanished.

"Hey, Jeremy, do you hear music?" Aelita asked, bringing the elf boy back to reality.

"What?" He asked. He listened. Sure enough, there was music in the background. "Yeah, I do. Maybe that town is having a party. It sounds really festive."

The human girl shrugged. "I don't know. It's possible, but I don't think we should stick around to find out…" She looked up to him. "What did you point out to me just now?"

Jeremy looked down to her. "I… I just thought I saw something." He said. "I thought I saw a ghost."

"It said something, didn't it? Don't try to lie. I can see it in your eyes." She giggled at her rhyming skills.

"She said to leave this place…" His voice trailed off. "She didn't have a heart…? What's with _that…?_*" He started off towards the music.

"If the ghost said to leave, then maybe we should try to find the Tower. You know, like we're supposed to?" She grabbed his sleeve.

"I doubt she meant the _island,_ Aelita. I think she meant the _general area._ Besides, the town is bound to be safer than this forest at night."

* * *

*Trolls exist! They steal your socks. But only the left ones… what's with _that…?_

* * *

A/N: Who wants to bet the town is _not_ safer than the forest at night?


	23. Chapter 23

_Chapter Twenty-Three: Return to Amityville_

Aelita recognized the forest path, and that frightened her, so she clung close to Jeremy on the side that Avalon walked on. Soon after starting on the path towards the music, the trio could see the iron gate of what they presumed was the town on the map. There was an opening for people to walk through, and two poles that reached for the sky. One pole was shorter than the other, and the longer pole held what appeared to be part of an arch and a letter. She assumed that the poles showed the name of the town, but had broken over time. Even at a distance, they could see musicians playing their instruments, and children dancing in circles.

One of the musicians looked up, and they stopped playing mid-note. The others looked to the first, and then to the trio, who the first musician was staring at. They, too, stopped playing. The dancing children, confused, looked to the trio as well, and while they did stop dancing, they also began to laugh and ran towards the trio. Each individual child tried desperately to talk over his or her neighbor. Most of the children had brown hair, and the ones that didn't had abnormal hair colors like green or purple, so all of them wanted so badly to touch Jeremy's blond hair.

The small children were joined by teenagers, who simply fawned over the trio. Some offered Avalon gold jewelry while others talked over the children. One group of teenage girls gently touched Aelita's skin and hair, and then one pulled out a knife. This startled the human girl, but the girl with the knife simply cut off her long hair to a length about the same as Aelita's, handed the knife to another girl, and began to pick off her tan to reveal paler skin beneath it. The other teen girls did the same. At the same time they were trying to do away with their tan, they tried to figure out a comfortable way to look shorter.

A tall, elf-like man with dark, shoulder length hair approached, and the children and teens reluctantly made a path for him. The man had green skin, and his ears were more shaped like the leaves of an oak tree than they were long. He wore a sort of dress, though it was clearly not for women, and he was followed by two shorter adults, one with his face painted like leaves and the other with her face painted like stone. "Welcome to Amityville," The elf-like man said, the word 'Amityville' sending a sudden chill down Aelita's spine. "It is always a pleasure to welcome you, Princess Aelita," He bowed respectfully to her, and then straightened his back with a knowing smile and added, "and you, Jeremy, and of course you, too, Avalon. How could I forget the Dragon that Shadows Fear?" Before they could say anything, he added, "I couldn't; that's how!"

"_It is an honor to see you once again, Bjorn._" Avalon tried its best to bow, its legs spread awkwardly and its head and neck almost horizontal.

"I'm surprised you even remember me. That was so long ago!" The man, Bjorn, laughed. He had a hearty laugh. Bjorn smiled again at Jeremy and Aelita. "But that is neither here nor there! You two must get ready! Go, go; hurry, hurry! There's no time to waste!" He clapped twice. The leaf-faced man took Jeremy's wrist at the same time the stone-faced woman took Aelita's. Both teens were pulled into the town.

Men and women of many different types of creatures talked and danced in the late twilight around a sculpture made of a light-colored stone. The sculpture was of a round-faced bald man with wings dressed in armor. The buildings of Amityville showed no sign of once been burned—new buildings, she guessed—and were made of light-colored stone, like the sculpture, with straw roofs. Most buildings were small with a single story, but the two largest had two stories, possibly three if the ceilings were low. Jeremy and Aelita were pulled towards the larger of the two buildings. On either side of the building was a paved area protected by a straw roof.

The elf boy was pulled towards the one on the left, and the human girl to the right. The teens looked to one another, and Jeremy saw a plump woman join the stone-faced one. The plump woman picked up Aelita's legs to take off her boots, to which the human girl struggled. At that moment, he noted that a lanky young man did the same to him. The plump woman walked sideways in front of Aelita, blocking the elf boy's view of the human girl, and the lanky young man pulled on the sleeves on Jeremy's turtleneck. The elf boy pulled his wrist away from the leaf-faced man to pull his arms and head out of the turtleneck. He then looked back to Aelita. The plump woman had removed her overall dress, and it appeared that the only thing the human girl wanted was to get away from the women, as the stone-faced one struggled to pull her under the straw roof. The plump woman pulled Aelita's hood over her head and grabbed the sleeves of her shirt. Only seconds later, the stone-faced woman succeeded in pulling Aelita under the roof and out of Jeremy's sight, and the plump woman grinned smugly as she folded the human girl's shirt.

This, Jeremy admitted to himself sourly, was probably a mixed blessing.

When the leaf-faced man had succeeded in leading the elf boy to the shade under the straw roof, he blocked the open entrance with a screen. He then opened a box in the corner as the lanky young man, visibly unnerved, asked shyly for the elf boy's pants. The atmosphere quickly became awkward, and the leaf-faced man handed Jeremy a pair of dark green leggings, which didn't help the atmosphere any. Regardless, the elf boy switched his pants for the leggings, and the leaf-faced man then handed him a pair of loose, dark brown pants with holes in the knees.

The lanky young man folded the elf boy's clothes and placed his shoes on them. He helped the leaf-faced man get Jeremy redressed. One handed him a dark brown and skintight shirt with sleeves that reached his wrists, and the other gave him a dark green tunic. They asked him to sit down, and they gave him a pair of boots. The elf boy pulled them on and laced them, and the lanky young man draped something over his shoulders.

For a moment, there was nothing, but then the lanky young man pushed the mirror in front of him. Jeremy looked to his reflection. He felt strange, and his reflection didn't show any different. The elf boy realized that a cape had been put over his shoulders, held there by what looked to be a curved stick. The leaf-faced man placed a dream catcher around his neck.

Jeremy looked to the men, who motioned towards the screen. He nodded, walked to the screen, opened it, and then walked to the screen that blocked the area where he assumed Aelita was changing. "Hey," He called out, "Decent?"

The stone-faced woman opened the screen and moved so the elf boy could enter. Aelita held her breath as the plump woman pulled the strings of a corset. "How is that?" The plump woman asked.

Bitterly, the human girl answered, "I don't know. It depends. Am I supposed to be able to breathe?" It was a rhetorical question.

"No," The plump woman said point-blankly.

"Oh, well then," Aelita murmured, "It's perfect." She looked to Jeremy and whispered, "Help me! I think she's trying to kill me!"

Jeremy walked towards the plump woman and touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Are you sure it's a good idea to put a corset on her?" He asked. "I don't think she's ever worn one before…"

The plump woman waved him off. "It's fine! She'll be fine." She helped the human girl stand up straight, and then asked the stone-faced woman to hold Aelita's arms up. The plump woman then pulled a sky blue dress onto her, which hung loose on the human girl's small—recently made smaller—figure. The stone-faced woman tied a choker around her neck, as well as several other necklaces of precious gems. The plump woman began to lace Aelita's bodice, which was dark blue. "See! She's fine."

Taking a deep breath, Aelita looked to Jeremy. "You look nice they certainly dressed you quick you lucky so-and-so you don't have to wear a corset!" The word 'corset' was forced, and the plump woman apologized and loosed a string on the bodice she'd laced too tight. The human girl sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth. "What was _wrong_ with the person who invented this coffin?"

Jeremy laughed, which was responded to by a death glare from his girlfriend. "I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you, I swear." He covered his mouth. The plump woman gave the human girl a quick overview of how to walk in her dress as the stone-faced woman fit a heavy-looking crown on her head. It appeared to be made of stone. Though it looked heavy, the human girl didn't seem to struggle over its weight, and she could adjust it rather easily. It must've been lighter than it looked, he decided.

"Okay, you're ready," The stone-faced woman said. She took Jeremy's arm and bent it, and then Aelita's, folding it around his. She then instructed them to walk towards the sculpture they must've seen walking towards the places where they'd changed. The plump woman opened the screen, and the stone-faced woman shooed them out. Avalon, who had been sitting outside the screen, walked next to Aelita as they walked together towards the crowd that had gathered on either side of the sculpture.

The musicians had begun to play again, and people danced to it merrily. When they spotted the teens, they cheered, and Bjorn waved them to him. He directed Aelita to a throne, which hadn't been there when they came in, and asked Jeremy to stand next to her until he gave the word. Faint stars had started to shimmer in the twilight.

"People of Amityville!" Bjorn called out to grab their attention. The crowd quieted. "We have survived countless burnings for this moment—the moment to meet our future queen, and her champion!" He paused for the crowd so they could cheer again. The teens behind him blushed. "This is no ordinary day, for today we see once again no law can keep us bound! We are _Amityville!_ Has anyone forgotten our historical importance? _Never!_

"Today we see our name go down in history once again! Today he reawakens! Before summer's end, we will see him fall for the first time in history, for just look at them!" He turned and held his hand out towards the teens so the crowd could see who he was referring to. "Princess Aelita, a fair young maid with the will to improve us! Can you not see the spark in her lush eyes? And Jeremy, experience beyond his years! Am I the only one who sees the storm raging inside him?" Bjorn turned back to the crowd. "Tell me, people of Amityville, have we found our champion?" He shouted.

"Yes!" The people shouted back at him.

"Then come, Jeremy!" He turned back, his eyes locked on the elf boy. The elf boy approached Bjorn nervously, and Aelita stood up suddenly. He motioned for her to sit, but she didn't. "Reawaken the soldier of the Opera!" Bjorn commanded him, and he turned to the sculpture.

The sculpture hadn't changed in appearance, but in aura. What had once been a peaceful, smiling statue was now an unstable, smug piece of stone. The elf boy walked towards it, and on the pedestal the sculpture stood on was a tiny piece of peacock green glass. He reached out for it when a worried gasp went through the crowd, and he turned. Like he'd worried, Aelita couldn't breathe through her corset, and she'd passed out.


	24. Chapter 24

_Chapter Twenty-Four: Necropolis_

By the time Aelita had awakened, the moon was in the sky and the music had stopped playing. Avalon picked up its head at the sight of the human girl's eyes, and Jeremy smiled. He'd been standing over her, and when he saw she was beginning to wake up, he smiled. She jumped, not expecting him to be standing over her, but she calmed down quickly. "I'm going to take a wild guess. I passed out, didn't I?" She said.

He nodded. "ʻShe'll be fine!' I think not," He said as the human girl sat up. "Oh, well. I guess that's what they guess for putting you in a corset."

She huffed. "Maybe so, but why did it have to happen to _me?_ Something like this would happen to me."

"Well, this is just a guess, but I'm pretty sure you were the only girl there who was wearing a corset, and if not, you were the only one who wasn't used to wearing one." The elf boy shrugged.

The human girl shrugged, too. She placed a hand on her stomach, and then looked down. She wasn't wearing the corset or the bodice anymore. This, she supposed, was so she wouldn't suffocate. She noted that she was still wearing the dress. It was actually rather soft. "Did the woman say anything?"

"Not that I know of. I told her that I'd told her it wasn't a good idea to put you in a corset, but she didn't say anything." He reported. "Although, she could've said something when I wasn't around." The elf boy was no longer wearing the clothes he'd changed into, but his own.

Aelita nodded. "Oh," She shifted, and Jeremy pulled a chair to the edge of the bed she lay on so he didn't have to stand over her. "When are we leaving?" She asked.

The elf boy laughed. "Tomorrow. Bjorn said they'd postpone the awakening ceremony until after the war ended so I didn't have to worry about it, and he'd show us to the tower in the morning." He said. "He said that it was good we'd come here, or we never would've found it. The forest makes it hard for outsiders to find it."

She nodded. She looked around. At first, she'd assumed they'd gone to a place in the town where the human girl could get medical help, but it didn't look like that was true. It was a small room—the door was open, and Aelita could see the stairs just beyond it. The room was painted a color that looked like a cross between tan and golden yellow, and the carpet was beige. The bed was made for two, but it wasn't very big. Ironically, the comforter wasn't very comfy—it was kind of itchy, really—but her head was still spinning a bit, so she didn't want to complain. "Where are we?" She asked.

"The town's inn," He said. "They said that it was best place in town for medical treatment."

Avalon shook its head. "_It's sad, really. It always bothered me that the inn was the best place in town for medical treatment, rather than a doctor's house. But the doctor's wife runs the inn, so I suppose it balances out…_"

"Speaking of whom, he told me to tell you not to overdo it," Jeremy reported. "So, uh, don't overdo it." He smiled, and so did the human girl.

"I won't, don't worry." She smiled.

"But your fainting spell did help me out. There's something going on here that worries me."

"Come on, Jeremy. What could _possibly_ go wrong in a town called Amityville?" She was being sarcastic.

"What do you mean?"

"One of my first nightmares caused by the Dark Shadows took place in Amityville."

"Oh."

Aelita looked like she was going to say something else, but she merely looked out the window instead. Her eyes were glued to the sky, where stars twinkled, but he could tell that she was somewhere else entirely. Jeremy decided he wouldn't ask about it. "Are you feeling better?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, especially when you consider I can breathe again!" She had a laugh in her voice.

"Always a bonus," He smiled.

Avalon curled up against Aelita. It didn't seem to be comfortable like that, so it changed its position. It released a contented sigh, and was still for a moment. "_No, that isn't quite right,_" It stood, spun around while stomping on the comforter. It curled up again, and in annoyance, it shouted, "_Why is it impossible to relax on this thing?_"

The teens laughed, much to Avalon's frustration.

* * *

It was later that Jeremy decided that Avalon was right—it was impossible to get comfortable on the comforter, under it or even under the sheet. The bed itself was fine, but like in many inns and hotels, the comforter was simply awful.

Unable to sleep, he sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He heard a familiar voice outside, and he put on his glasses. He opened the window and looked out, spotting the heartless woman from earlier calling up to him. She turned around and began to walk away before she vanished.

The elf boy pulled on his shoes and quietly walked to the door. He started to close it when he noticed Avalon staring at him. He placed a finger to his lips before he closed the door and ran out of the inn.

The woman reappeared, and walked in one direction, and then disappeared again. The streets of Amityville were practically desolate, with the exception of a few elderly men and women gazing up at the stars. Jeremy looked around for a moment before he went in the direction of the heartless woman.

Eventually, the elf boy stumbled across a graveyard. He was alone there, except for the heartless woman standing over a grave near the entrance, another woman, living, crouched over a different grave, and a young man, only a little older than the elf boy, standing next to the living woman. The living woman had pin-straight blonde hair that reached her shoulders, tanned skin and she wore a black dress. The young man had blue skin, white eyebrows and black hair. He noticed Jeremy, grabbed his sword and took a position suggesting he was ready to fight, and the woman next to him stood.

When she turned, Jeremy could see it was Laurelei. Sure, she'd gotten a makeover, but her purple lips and violet eyes were a dead giveaway. She seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see her, but she didn't say anything. The gancanagh then curtsied politely and said to the boy next to her, "William, I'm ready to go." The boy—William—nodded and put his sword away. Laurelei called out her bat wings, grabbed the undersides of William's arms and flew away without another word. Peering over a headstone, Jeremy could see that she'd left a lily on a grave.

Shaking the experience off, the elf boy looked to the heartless woman and walked to her grave. She disappeared, and he looked at the headstone.

'_R.I.P_

_Thorn_

_Mother, Wife and Warrior_'

There was nothing else written on it. The heartless woman—Thorn—reappeared, and she walked further into the graveyard. Jeremy followed her. She led him to the center of the graveyard and disappeared again. As soon as Thorn was gone, the sculpture from earlier reappeared. An elderly man with leaves and twigs for hair and a beard who had been walking by stopped in his tracks. Jeremy took no notice of him and approached the sculpture. "I wouldn't do that, young master," The elderly man warned.

Jeremy didn't hear him. He rubbed the glass on the pedestal. It was smooth, but he felt something prick his finger. Blood dripped onto the glass, and before the elf boy could wipe it away, it had been absorbed by the glass.

The sculpture started to move, and Thorn reappeared. "Quickly, hide behind a headstone!" She instructed before disappearing. Jeremy did as she instructed, and moments later, the sculpture had come to life.

The man no longer smiled, and he seemed to be looking for something. Thorn reappeared at his side. "Eternus Rotti, return my heart…" She said, and she was joined by countless other spirits. Each of the spirits had the same clothing and wound as Thorn. Together, they chanted, "Eternus Rotti, return my heart."

The man looked angrily to each spirit, and he waved his hand. The spirits vanished, but his angry expression remained. "Maggots,vermin, _vultures!_" He shouted. "They wanted the world for nothing. Which poor soul following in their footsteps shall inherit this world? These deceased vultures shall keep guessing." He threw back his head and laughed, "I shall keep these maggots guessing!"

He couldn't explain it, but the man frightened Jeremy. He had an atmosphere of death. "The council once said to me, 'our rulers are a bust!' I must say that I agree. Their legacy is too great for maggots to interfere with grace. And so my duty fell to me, and once again, a vermin tries to gain the world." The man looked to the headstone Jeremy hid behind. He walked over to it and lifted the elf boy by his shirt. He looked into his eyes and said, "Commence your groveling." He dropped the elf boy, and he added, "I would suggest you remove yourself from this relationship before it is too late for you."

The man spread his wings and flew off. The spirits returned, and they looked at Jeremy. The fact that they were all creatures, and that they all were missing hearts… he concluded that the man had something to do with it. "Jeremy Belpois, return our hearts…" They chanted as they disappeared.

Jeremy shook his head and stood. The elderly man with leaves and twigs for hair and a beard approached him. "Are you alright, sir? You're not hurt, are you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," The elf boy said. "Who was that?"

The elderly man didn't respond right away. When he did, he spoke in verse, "Out through the night, through the mist, steps a figure. No one really knows his name for sure. He stands at six foot six, head and shoulders. Pray he never comes knocking at your door." He paused. "You are in love with Princess Aelita, correct?"

Jeremy didn't respond right away. "Yeah," He finally said.

"So you have her heart. When it comes to creatures, possessing the heart of a monarch is considered a debt to be paid. That man you saw is in charge of making sure creatures repay the debt." He saw what Jeremy was going to ask, and he said, "He won't bother to write or to phone you. To repay the debt of hearts, he'll just rip the still-beating heart from your _chest!_"

The elf boy flinched at the man's sudden change in tone, and the spirits reappeared only briefly, as if to prove his point.

The man sighed. "Now, you could run. You could hide—you could _try_ to, but he always has a way of finding you*. You will be forced to face him in the Opera eventually, and when you do, you either win by killing him or you lose by dying." He sensed the question again, and in annoyance, he added, "No, you won't have to sing. You fight, and it's called the Opera because the wails of the crowd often sound like singing." Jeremy weighed that in his mind. He supposed that's what Menelwen and Polaris couldn't say to him, and the winged man was why they'd wanted the trio to avoid the town. "Keep this in mind, also, young master. No creature has ever won the Opera. Amityville feels that you can, and so does most of Lyoko. But, please. Keep in mind that you're only a kid! This doesn't make you any more or less likely to win than any other creature, but your biggest mistake would be not to use it to your advantage." The elderly man walked away, and so did the elf boy.

His head swirled, and he felt something weighing him down. When he turned to look, the ghosts of the creatures he presumed had been in the Opera before him were stalking him. He sighed, and he heard Bjorn run up to him. "Jeremy, did you happen to see a winged man tonight?" He asked, out of breath. "Many of our residents said that they'd seen him."

"If you mean the one that used to be a sculpture, then yes." The elf boy nodded.

"Oh, Jeremy! What in the name of Corellon Larethian** did you do?" Bjorn demanded. "Did you wake him up?"

"Yes…"

"Why would you do that?"

"Weren't we going to do that anyway?"

"I didn't know you were fighting in the war then, and I told you we'd reawaken him after it ended! What made you think doing it on your own was a good idea?"

"I was following Thorn!" He defended himself. He turned to the spirits following him. "Where are you, Thorn? Oh, there she is. Look!" Jeremy pointed to the ghost of Thorn.

Bjorn looked right at her, but then to Jeremy skeptically, and he said, "I don't see anything."

"What? How can you not see her? She's—" The elf boy sighed. "It's this again. Never mind…"

The following morning, the trio walked back into the Titan Wing, and Jeremy looked especially worn out. The ghosts were still following him, and so far, no one he'd spoken to could see them. He'd experienced the same sort of thing when he was little. "Oh, there you guys are. McPhee was worried about you." Yumi reported.

"He shouldn't have been. I told him we'd be back, but I never said when…" The elf boy muttered as he sat down next to his sister.

As Aelita explained what happened, Ulrich approached Jeremy. "Hey, what's with all of the ghosts around you?" The golem asked.

Jeremy blinked. "You can see them, too?" He asked.

"Yeah. But why are they stalking you?"

"I don't really know why they're stalking me. They just are." He said. "Could you see the ghosts I talked to when I was little?"

"Not the one you talked to all the time. But some of the ones you pointed out I could see, though I'd never admit it."

"Jerk."

"Call me what you want—"

"Jerk."

"—but I'll bet if we put our heads together we could get rid of them."

"They keep telling me to return their hearts. I don't think we can help them unless I kill the man who stole their hearts."

"I didn't say we had to do that. You just need to get rid of them, don't you?"

"What are you planning to do, Ulrich?"

"I don't know yet. Just bear with me."

*This is taken directly from Repo: the Genetic Opera for the most part. The song 'Genetic Repo Man' helped me come up with the character, who is usually referred to as Eternus Rotti, Rotti being the bad guy from this opera/movie.

**Corellon Larethian, if I'm not mistaken, is the chief god in Elvish mythology, and is said to have given birth to all elves. This, of course, can be corrected by anyone who knows more about their myths than I do.


	25. Chapter 25

_Chapter Twenty-Five: Mistress of Darkness_

Aelita picked up the dog bed Madeline had bought for Avalon and placed it on her own bed, so the dragon could sit next to her. McPhee had asked his assistant to prepare a room for Aelita before he was informed of her nightmares, and she'd finished furnishing it before she was aware of them as well. The room was mostly pink, but hot pink rather than the baby pink her parents had for her room, and there was black, too. It was much more fit for a teenager, though, she couldn't really enjoy it.

Jeremy had to report to McPhee almost as soon as they got back, and after a brief tongue-lashing, the elderly human man informed them that the break in that almost resulted in the rape and murder of the Human Princess would be dealt with in the form of tighter security. "That incident," He'd said, "will _not_ be repeated."

And so, she was forced to make acquaintance with eight personal bodyguards, who worked in shifts of four, two who remained with her at all times and two who watched the doorway. The two who watched the doorway had strict orders to kill anyone who entered the room without announcing themselves, so every member of the staff—including the teenage creatures and even the janitors—had been given pager-like devices to announce their presence to the guards before they entered any room. McPhee, Madeline, the guards, security staff and the teenage creatures were also equipped with wireless headsets so they could warn each other of incoming threats. The security staff installed twice as many cameras as before. It felt like every corner of the Titan Wing could be seen from a hundred different angles at the same time.

As if for an extra security blanket, so to speak, McPhee also gave Jeremy and Aelita cell phones* with the numbers of the other teen creatures, the elf siblings' parents, Aelita's parents and McPhee—to be precise, it was the number for McPhee's Blackberry, but Madeline used it more often than he did because he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

The chance to test the new security came midmorning, two days later. The Xanadu attacked, and because of that, the human girl was trapped in her bedroom—again—with four intimidating men who didn't talk. She could only leave when they changed shifts, so no one could attack while they were away. The only sound came from the security guards outside pacing the hallway and from her bodyguards' steady breathing. Unlike the first battle she'd experienced in the Titan Wing, the war going on outside was constant, although, it did calm down occasionally in some places, and when one of her creature friends was in a calmer zone, they called the human girl to check up on her. In return, she gave them information the other creatures had given her. It was a cycle.

Aelita looked to each of her bodyguards faces. She only knew them by their last names—the ones with her were Bell, Reed, Crawford and Delgado. The four who were off-duty at the moment were Moody, Estrada, Briggs and Avila. She wished they were a little more social, but she knew that she, as the Human Princess, was a prime target for the Xanadu, and her bodyguards had to take that seriously. But did they _have_ to be so serious when there was nothing going on? She sighed, and she fell back onto the bed. Her phone rang. The human girl answered it. "Hello?" She said. "Odd! How's it going on your end? …Oh, that's good. Do they show any sign of retreating yet? No? That's disappointing… Sam? Yes, she called. Things have been going well, from what she told me. She bullied some top-secret information out of some of the soldiers. No, she didn't tell me what she learned… no, she didn't tell me who she got it from… no, she didn't tell me how she got it. All she said was 'by force.' If you're so interested, call her yourself! …okay, talk to you later."

She hung up. Smiling, she looked to Avalon and said, "These things are pretty amazing!" She examined it carefully. "I wonder how it works…"

Avalon climbed onto Aelita's lap and examined the cell phone with the human girl. "_Perhaps… perhaps they've trapped a pixie inside and the pixie is labeled with a number, and when someone dials the number of a certain pixie, they transfer the voices to one another!_" The dragon exclaimed with worried confidence.

The human girl looked to the dragon in horror. "That's awful! I have to let it out!" Aelita held the phone above her head, stood up on her bed and was about to throw it against the floor when Reed stopped her. "_Reed!_ A pixie is stuck inside of there and I have to let it out!" She demanded as Reed took her cell phone from her.

"There _is_ no pixie," Reed snapped, "Do _not_ break your cell phone. It's crucial you remain in contact with your friends." He placed it on the bedside table, but otherwise remained silent. Aelita stuck out her tongue at him.

* * *

"Hey, Bill, look at this," Joe, a security guard who watched the surveillance monitors, tapped his co-worker's arm. Bill wheeled over to where Joe sat and looked to his monitor. There stood a cloaked figure at the door to the Titan Wing. Bill and Joe looked to one another and nodded. Joe held his hand over the button that sounded the alarm, waiting for the figure to enter the Titan Wing, and Bill contacted Aelita's bodyguards.

The cloaked figure removed their hood and turned. They were female, and she had long, light-colored hair, but with black-and-white security cameras positioned outside the Titan Wing, the color was impossible to decipher. An elf approached her, and even without color, the guards knew this elf was Jeremy. Bill informed the bodyguards, and Joe relaxed.

* * *

Jeremy, his head pounding from the voices of the ghosts that still stalked him, opened the door to the Titan Wing and stood against it so Anthea could pass. He listened for the alarm, but when it didn't go off, he closed the door and said, "McPhee sent you Aelita's phone number, didn't he?" He saw her nod, and he added, "If you were so worried about her, you should've called…"

"I heard Washington D.C was under attack again. I didn't know if I would be able to reach her," Anthea explained, her tone sharp, like it had grown to be towards him. Yet, he felt as if it was sharper than it usually was.

"So you decided to pay a visit instead?" The elf boy asked. "It's dangerous here, An—" He stopped short.

She turned and looked at him. "An…?" She asked.

He looked away from her, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "…and you could get hurt, or even killed, Missus Schaffer." He said, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

The human woman looked at him suspiciously, but she turned and walked down the hallway. "It doesn't matter now," She shrugged. "Where is Aelita's bedroom?"

Jeremy walked down the hall with her. "Aelita sleeps with me, in my bedroom." He realized after he said it that he'd phrased it wrong, and Anthea stopped in her tracks. "What I mean by that is, when she first came here, she didn't have a room of her own, so she bunked with me, and now that she does, she still bunks with me because, well, old habits die hard…"

"Give me your hand," Anthea demanded, and she grabbed his wrist before he had a chance to respond. She held her fingers just before his, and she shocked him. He recoiled in pain, and she let go of him so he could back up. "Good," She announced, "Keep it that way."

He was confused, but he didn't say anything. As Anthea started to walk away, he followed her. The elf boy instructed her as to which room was Aelita's, and when they reached it, he paged the guards on the inside before he opened the door. Anthea ran inside and hugged her daughter. "Mommy!" Aelita exclaimed, and she looked to Jeremy. She glared at him, and he smiled nervously. Though Aelita seemed to understand why her parents were so protective of her, it appeared as if she hadn't quite forgiven them.

The two humans conversed for a while, and Jeremy turned to go back to the war. He stopped short in his path when he saw that most of the ghosts had disappeared, excluding Thorn. "I know I need to get your heart. Leave me alone!" The elf boy said.

Thorn walked through him, and to Anthea's side. "This is not my daughter," The spirit said. Jeremy looked at her strangely, and she clarified, "I, the most recent participant in the Opera, am Anthea's mother. And this is not my daughter, but an imposter…"

Thorn disappeared, and Jeremy examined the human woman. He concluded that, if Thorn was right, it might convince her to leave him alone, but if she was wrong… well, everyone had to die eventually. He drew his gun and fired at Anthea, and while it struck her shoulder, she didn't even flinch. Aelita's bodyguards pointed at him, while Aelita herself looked nervously between her mother and the elf boy. "You aren't really Anthea, are you?" He asked.

Anthea was quiet for a moment, but then raised her hand. The guards were forced back against the walls, and they couldn't break free. Avalon jumped up and tried to bite the human woman, but she moved her palm to face the dragon, and a cage of electricity formed around Avalon and Aelita. "Clever boy," Anthea said, pulling her hood over her head. Her skin became darker, and the pink strands of hair still visible turned blonde.

"_Laurelei!_" Jeremy hissed. He fired his gun at her, and the guards struggled to break free. Laurelei shielded herself with the cloak she wore, and then held her hand out. The elf boy's gun became coated with darkness, and at the same time, the electric cage became made of darkness. Aelita tried to slip out.

The darkness that surrounded his gun vanished, and so did his gun. It reappeared in Laurelei's hand, and she fired once at him. "Jeremy!" Aelita called out.

The bullet shot through the elf boy's throat, almost exiting from the other side and narrowly missing an opportunity to damage his spinal cord, which probably could've paralyzed him. Jeremy put pressure onto the wound, and he took his eyes off of Laurelei for probably close to a second, but when he looked up, she, Avalon and Aelita were all gone. Aelita's bodyguards, fortunately, were free and still alive. Reed and Crawford ran to his side to help him, while Bell and Delgado contacted McPhee and the other creatures.

Reed and Crawford moved Jeremy's fingers so they could put pressure on the wound themselves. The elf boy pulled water from the air and splashed it on his throat, hoping to fix it. The guards' fingers got in the way, but he kept pulling the water from the air and splashing it on his throat anyway. Eventually, the guards caught on to what he was doing and led him to the bathroom, turned on the shower and kept pressure on the wound until they could put him under the water. They watched in awe as the wound healed itself.

Jeremy, angry, reached into his neck, which was water since it was still healing, and he pulled the bullet out. He was unable to contain his anger, and punched the wall.

* * *

McPhee briefed the creatures on what had happened. "To make matters worse, it appears Aelita's captor knew that we'd laced all of her clothing with tracking devices, so according to our monitors…" He looked to the screen behind him. Like the first time they'd been there, it showed a map of where the battles had occurred, but something pinged in the area of Washington D.C. "…she never left the area."

"This is so frustrating!" Jeremy shouted. "What's the point of all this technology if we can't even protect her?" He screamed in irritation, and Yumi patted his arm to comfort him.

The demigoddess looked up to the elderly man. "So what's our next move?" She asked.

He sighed. "I… I don't know, Yumi. I don't know where we would begin to look." He shook his head.

The room grew silent. "No one can get in or out of New York City, right?" Jeremy asked. McPhee nodded. "Then I have an idea where to start looking."

* * *

*In case you forgot, Jeremy's cell phone was crushed by Laurelei's henchman outside of the tower that led to Marumi Village.

* * *

A/N: I meant to say this last chapter, if I didn't, but by introducing an angel I'm not adding religion to the story (we get enough religion from Lyna, after all). Angels are usually heavenly messengers, but that doesn't mean all angels are messengers. Eternus Rotti, for instance, is a warrior. His origin is up for debate, but not here. If any of you start a religion fight on my fan fiction, your ass is grass.


	26. Chapter 26

_Chapter Twenty-Six: Laurelei's Confession_

It was daytime again by the time the teenage creatures' helicopter reached its destination—Beverly Hills, California. Jeremy instructed Gus, who piloted the helicopter, to a large house with a landing site on the roof. As the wizard gently land their transportation, the elf boy leapt out of it onto the roof.

Jeremy took no time to see if his friends followed him, but rather opened the door that lead into the house and ran down the stairs. Inside, he looked under furniture and rugs, pulled books of the shelves and opened every door he could find. He then knocked things such as the empty bookshelves over to look behind them, and tore pictures and paintings of the walls. The elf boy looked upstairs, downstairs, outside and inside before he came to one last door. He opened it with quite a bit of force, as it slammed against the wall loudly and bounced back almost to the point of closing itself again, and in this final room, he saw Laurelei. She was curled up in a red armchair with a newspaper, as if nothing had happened. Her henchman William sat in the room with her.

The room was silent for a while. The elf boy didn't know exactly what he was waiting for—a trap to go off, an alarm to sound, or, more likely, any sign that would lead to Aelita—but when neither Laurelei nor William moved, he shouted, "_Laurelei!_"

Laurelei looked up, not at Jeremy but rather at nothing before her eyes fell to him. Then, her violet eyes sparkled happily, and she shouted, "_Jeremy!_" Her tone was mock-anger, and she laughed before she looked to William. "His was way more believable than mine," The gancanagh admitted. She looked back to Jeremy. "It's nice to see you again, Jeremy. I was really surprised when I saw you in Amityville's graveyard. I was sure you'd died!"

"Why? Because you left without warning me about Eternus Rotti?" He asked.

She looked at him strangely. "No, because I saw your grave way, _way_ back in October. That was the last time I saw you before Amityville." The gancanagh sounded sincere, but then again, she always did. She thought for a moment. "Although, if you want to get nit-picky, I hadn't seen you since I dumped you," She clarified, "but the last news about you I'd gotten was that you'd died. I'm glad you didn't, though…" She smiled, and turned back to her newspaper.

Jeremy groaned, infuriated. "Don't _give_ me this shit, Laurelei, I'm _not_ buying it!" He shouted, stomping over to her.

The gancanagh looked at him strangely again. After a moment of silence, she asked, "What shit?" Once again, her tone was sincere.

"Where is my girlfriend?" He demanded.

Her eyes glistened with interest. "Oh, you got a new girlfriend? Who is she? Do I know her? Can I play, too?" She asked, and then shook her head. "_That's_ a bad idea…"

"You _know_ who she is!"

"Oh, so I _do_ know her! Don't tell me, I want to guess! Uh… _oh!_ Is it that friend of Lyna's, what's-her-face, uh… oh, _right,_ Darla! Duh!"

Jeremy crossed his arms. "No,"

"So, she isn't Darla, huh… what about… uh… I… can't think of anyone else…"

"_Aelita!_"

Laurelei blinked, and her face showed an expression of confusion, as if he'd changed the subject. "What about Aelita?" She asked.

"_Aelita_ is my _girlfriend!_ Now where did you take her?"

His anger probably rose a good eighty or ninety percent when the gancanagh laughed at him. "Oh, that's _rich!_ You are such a card!" She laughed some more. "Aelita's been dead for ten Earth years. While I _was_ at her funeral, I didn't _take_ her anywhere. In any case, if it were possible for you to have met my baby sister, both of you would've been too young to know what love was, let alone for the two of you to start dating. And even if you weren't, don't you think waiting ten years to do anything about her death is a little silly?"

"You're a _liar!_ I know she's alive, unless you killed her!"

"Excuse me? Where did that assumption come from?"

"You kidnapped her once already!"

The gancanagh seemed hurt. "Jeremy, I'm surprised at you!" She said, "How could you suggest that I would do that to my baby sister? I loved her!"

"How could you enlist your cousin to kill my friends? How could you sick a squid thing on 'your baby sister?' How could you imprison her, and how could you try to seduce me again? In fact, how could you do _half_ the things you've done?"

"…I really have no idea what you're talking about…" Laurelei said, and William stood up.

"Oh, there you are!" Lyna said from behind the elf boy, and he turned. "I've been looking all over for you! The house is a complete wreck, and—" She stopped short, and then yanked her brother closer to her. "That's Laurelei, isn't it? I know she kidnapped Aelita, but why the hell didn't you say anything?"

The two whispered to one another for a while as the others trickled into the room. Lyna smacked the back of her brother's head and sharply whispered something, and he pushed her back a bit and whispered to her. This continued for a few moments more before Lyna finally waved him off, and the elf girl threw one of the tomahawks at her side at Laurelei. The handle struck the gancanagh's side, and she jumped in surprise.

Lyna blinked, muttered, "I think that was scientifically impossible," and walked over to the tomahawk and threated to throw it again.

Jeremy sighed, and he said as calmly as he could, "Listen, just tell us where Aelita is and we won't…" He thought for a moment. "…kill you _inhumanely…_"

Laurelei, too, sighed. "What's so hard to understand about the phrase, 'she's been dead for _ten years!_'?"

"The fact that she _didn't die!_" The elves shouted at the same time.

"_Bullshit!_ I saw her corpse!" She shouted. "Her poor, tiny, mangled corpse! Oh, don't even _remind_ me…" She covered her eyes, and she started crying. None of the creatures bought into it until Laurelei's cries turned to sobs, and sobs into full-out blubbering and waterworks.

William helped her sit down, and then confronted the teens himself. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to leave." He said.

Lyna stepped forward. "We aren't leaving without Aelita!"

He looked to her. "I think Laurelei made it clear she doesn't know what you're talking about. I really am sorry, but we can't help you. You'll have to look somewhere else."

The elf girl looked like she was about to argue, but her brother stopped her. "No, Lyna, they really can't help us." Jeremy said. She looked at him strangely, and he explained, "Don't forget, I dated Laurelei for a while. I can tell when she's really crying and when she's faking it. And she's really crying."

"But if Laurelei didn't take her, who did? You said you saw Laurelei take Aelita." Yumi asked.

"I did! But we're probably dealing with a shape shifter. After all, she took the form of Anthea first to trick me into letting her into the Titan Wing." The elf boy reasoned.

The teens debated back and forth for a while, and then Laurelei calmed herself down long enough to interrupt their conversation. "Listen, you guys… I doubt the girl you're looking for is my baby sister, but if you're looking for a shape shifter than can take my form and the form of Anthea, I can probably help you there." The teens looked to her as she said, "When I found you dead, it really changed me. I managed to convince my dad to remove the poison I've had since as long as I can remember—" Here she paused to drag her wrist across her mouth, and like she'd said, the purple smudged across the gancanagh's face, revealing itself to be purple lipstick, "and I gave it to a friend of mine. She's a stupidly powerful witch, and devoted to eliminating the human race. If she managed to get a hold of something that also belonged to Anthea, it would stand to reason a chameleon spell could disguise her appearance as either of us.

"If she really has kidnapped Aelita like you said, it's plausible that she's been taken to a Xanadu fortress for political prisoners. There's one out in the central U.S that she was put in charge of." Laurelei concluded. "I'll be able to get you past the guards, and Gus, would you mind terribly using a chameleon spell to disguise yourselves so you don't tip the guards off?"

Gus rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd love to, Laurelei, but my wand was broken a while back. I can cast basic spells without it, but more advanced ones like chameleon spells take a wand or staff, and I don't have either!"

"Why didn't you say so sooner? William, be a dear and fetch the Mare Staff, please." She instructed. He nodded and left the room, and she smiled at the dumbstruck wizard. "What? Are you surprised? You needed a wand or staff, and that's the only one I have."

"No, it isn't that… do you have any idea how powerful that staff is?" He asked. When William reentered the room, he handed Gus a long, black staff with a coarse stone at the tip. "This is like the real life Elder Wand!"

"If you don't want it, give it back," The gancanagh said simply.

Gus thought about it for a second. "No," He said. He held the tip of the staff above the floor, muttered a few words, and then slammed it down. The teen creatures—excluding William—then appeared to be generic Xanadu soldiers, with hardly a way to tell them apart. Laurelei looked to her teen friend, and then walked out of the room with him. The others looked to the soldier where Jeremy had been standing, presuming that it was the elf boy, and he nodded. They followed Laurelei.

* * *

Aelita, to be brutally honest, found Laurelei's attempt to break her spirit rather pathetic. She was alone in a tiny room, and she was chained to what looked like a generator. Every hour on the hour, she felt a tiny shock on her ankle, and with each shock she grew more exhausted, but Laurelei herself hadn't said a word to her. In fact, Aelita was almost positive that if she could figure out a way to free her chained ankle, she could break out herself. The room didn't even have a door, let alone one that was locked!

There was, of course, the issue of the guards. And Laurelei, obviously. However, she could hear the frantic rattling of chains and inferno down the hall, so she could safely assume Avalon was nearby. Aelita need only free the dragon to get past the remaining obstacles. Had the gancanagh not appeared to be her mother, the security system at the Titan Wing could've protected her better than Laurelei could guard her here. But where _was_ here? That would've proved problematic for her to solve. She didn't even know the general area of where she was.

Although, she thought as another shock reached her ankle, she was sure her friends were coming. Her eyes were hard to keep open, and she tried to stay awake. The human girl closed her eyes. She opened them, and then closed them again.

A/N: Well, that was a bombshell and a half!


	27. Chapter 27

_Chapter Twenty-Seven: Political Prison_

"_That_ can't be good," Odd said as the helicopter landed in front of the prison Laurelei had directed them to. In place of a gate, there was an electrical fence taken to the extreme—and Odd was right in the fact it didn't look good, as the electricity was pink. "Anyone care to guess why that electrical fence is pink?"

Laurelei, her voice panicked and angry, responded first, "They're draining her energy to fuel the defensive systems." She said, "They're taking advantage of her illness—that is, if this really is Aelita. It keeps getting harder and harder to doubt it…"

The teens began to brainstorm a plan, which started with Laurelei calling on her friend to stop the energy flow to the gate so they could enter. Then, Laurelei would distract her friend while Jeremy, Ulrich and Yumi rescued Aelita and Avalon. Odd, Sam, Gus, William and Lyna would free the remaining prisoners and they would all go free with as little confrontation as possible.

It was at the moment the teens agreed on their plan that the electrical fence's energy flickered in and out until it stopped completely.

They all waited for a moment, expecting Laurelei's friend to appear, but no one did. It seemed that the energy flow had either been disrupted or unable to continue. Realizing that the energy flow was coming from Aelita and whatever was taking it probably took it faster than her body could create it, the gang abandoned most of their plan in favor of rescuing Aelita before she died.

The teens pushed past guards, most of which were lightly armored and lanky under that, and they split up. Jeremy, Ulrich and Yumi found a staircase and followed that. The staircase led to a long hallway, at the end of which was another hallway. In between them and the second staircase was many mannequins posed in ways that suggested torture. "My _god,_ Laurelei's friend is _sick!_" Jeremy said suddenly.

Yumi examined a pile of mannequins under a glass box with a door drawn poorly on it. "Is anyone else getting a Nazi death camp flashback?" She asked, walking past it. They walked past the remaining mannequins and down the stairs, which led to another long hallway with another staircase at the end. The demigoddess sighed as the boys moved forward.

They kept up the pattern of hallways and staircases until they heard the rattling of chains. Whatever rattled the chains had to be huge—the chains would rattle before they stopped short soon after, suggesting the creature the chains kept bound was large enough to move only briefly before the chains stopped them, and every so often, the creature would roar. "We must be getting close to the bottom," Ulrich said, "We haven't seen any cells as of yet, so they should probably be at the bottom."

"I'm just surprised there are no guards," Jeremy said, "The Xanadu isn't known for high tech security, though…"

Yumi shrugged. "_We_ had high tech security, and you _still_ managed to blow it."

The elf boy crossed his arms. "That wasn't my fault! I thought she was Anthea!" He protested.

"Guys, calm down. We need to keep going," Ulrich reminded them, and they nodded. Soon they reached the bottom, and they looked around. There were multiple empty cells, none of which had doors. Each cell had chains on the inside, and many of the chains connected to the ankles of skeletons.

Yumi peeked into one cell, seeing first a generator-like machine that made intimidating sounds and second what appeared to be another skeleton—until the demigoddess saw that it was breathing. "Hey, she's over here!" She called to the boys, who ran over to her. They rushed to Aelita's side, and Jeremy tried to wake her up as Yumi and Ulrich tried to figure out how to disconnect the human girl from the machine. Eventually, Ulrich sliced through the chain with his swords.

Now able to move her, Jeremy pulled Aelita's body away from the machine. She eventually opened her eyes, and smiled weakly. "Hi, Jeremy… I was wondering when you'd show up…" The human girl joked, her consciousness already fading. "Watch out for the spider… she's not too friendly…"

"The spider?" Jeremy asked, but it was already too late. Aelita had lost consciousness. He looked around, and then up to the ceiling. Like she'd said, there was a spider on the ceiling, but it was no ordinary spider—it was an enormous black widow, about Aelita's size and very unfriendly by her looks.

There was a moment where the elf boy just stared at it. He looked around and picked up Aelita, and then walked backwards out of the cell without taking his eyes off the spider. He looked to the end of the hallway, and he saw a large white figure inside a cell, and he directed Ulrich and Yumi to the cell. Inside, they found the figure to be Avalon, and Ulrich began to break the chains binding the dragon.

Yumi and Jeremy, who carried Aelita, began to walk quickly to the staircase, and then the elf boy stopped short. The demigoddess turned, and she saw why he'd stopped short. He could hear the steps the spider took as she walked in her spidery way towards them. Yumi motioned for Jeremy to run, and he did as she'd directed, and she followed him. They'd only reached the center of the staircase when Ulrich called out, "Jeremy!"

Jeremy turned, as did Yumi, and Ulrich stood by the spider, all eight of its legs severed. He took out his sword and decapitated the spider, and then walked with a grin on his face towards his friends. "Why are you smiling?" The elf boy asked.

Ulrich looked at him. "I can't believe you're afraid of spiders," The golem said, laughter in his voice. Avalon, in the background, began to chow down on the spider's severed head*.

"I am not afraid of spiders! Did you see the size of that thing?" He defended himself.

"Yeah, right," Ulrich shook his head.

* * *

Gus, looking to the freed prisoners and the captured guards, and then to Odd, Sam and William. He waved Odd over and asked, "Do you know where Lyna went?"

Odd shrugged. "I don't know where she is exactly. She said that, if what Laurelei said was true, we needed to find a place we could bring Aelita that wouldn't risk her health." The cat boy said. "She said she would be back soon."

The wizard nodded, and he watched as the electrical fence—which had flickered back on shortly after the teens had made it inside—flickered off again. The teens directed the freed prisoners out of the prison, and reassured them that they would take off for the nearest hospital as soon as their friends returned. Gus felt a tug on his boot, and he looked down to see a young boy with a dirty face. The boy had curly brown hair and wide, light blue eyes. "Hi, mister," The boy said. "You're really tall! You should play basketball!"

Gus laughed. "Well, I don't like to _brag…_" He said, and he got on eye level with the boy. "What's your name?"

"Sterling," The boy said.

"Nice to meet you, Sterling; I'm Gus," The wizard's face turned serious. "Why are you here? Young children aren't exactly political prisoners…"

Sterling pointed off into the background, where there was a graveyard. "My daddy was the prisoner. He had to go bye-bye, though…" The boy's voice trailed off.

Gus looked from the graveyard to Sterling, and then picked up the young boy and put him on his shoulders.

* * *

"Morgan!" A voice shouted.

Morgan sighed and pushed open the lid of her tanning booth. She looked to Laurelei, who seemed very upset with her. "Laurie!" She said giddily, tiptoeing over to the gancanagh and hugging her. Laurelei didn't return the embrace. Morgan pouted and asked, "Are you upset with me?"

"What was your first clue?" Laurelei asked.

"Listen, Laurie, I've been pretending to be you, just like you asked! Even your father can't tell the difference!" The witch said. "So you can just go back to your house in Beverly Hills and rest without any worries!"

The gancanagh didn't back down. "Is it true my baby sister is still alive?"

Morgan recoiled. "You know as well as I do Princess Aelita died years ago…"

"That's not what I heard,"

"What did you hear?"

"I heard that you abducted her and abused her."

Morgan pretended to think for a second. "Oh, yes! I did abduct and abuse a girl who was pretending to be the princess, and I just wanted to teach her a lesson about identity theft."

Laurelei rolled her eyes. "You heard what my father said! The only member of the Human Royalty who is to be harmed is King Franz. He loved Anthea, and Aelita was his daughter, too!"

"But he also said humans are worthless,"

"He _specifically_ said not to harm Queen Anthea and Princess Aelita!"

"I already told you, she was an _imposter._"

"Then what about the girl you've got trapped here, Morgan? Is _she_ an imposter, too?"

"What girl?" Morgan was a terrible actor. "There's no girl here…"

Laurelei, fed up, pushed her friend hard. Morgan stumbled back, and then pushed the gancanagh. The girl fought like cats for a while, and then Morgan raised her hand, which closed the doors. Not only did this trap Laurelei inside, it also trapped Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremy with her. The teens turned, and Ulrich and Yumi drew their weapons, but the gancanagh didn't see this. She saw the girl Jeremy was holding. She got back onto her feet and rushed over. "This is her?" She asked.

Jeremy nodded, and then said, "Yeah,"

She pushed a pink hair from Aelita's face. Then, angry, Laurelei grabbed the gun at the elf boy's side and fired it at Morgan. "_You evil bitch!_" She shouted.

Morgan raised her hand again, and darkness enclosed around Laurelei, who struggled against it. The witch then waved her other hand, and the remaining teens began to levitate. Jeremy tried to keep his grip on Aelita. Soon after they started to levitate, the teens could tell that the chameleon spell Gus had placed on them had faded to reveal them. Morgan turned her hand upside down, and the elf boy dropped to the ground, the human girl still in midair.

Jeremy struggled to get to his feet, and Laurelei tossed him his gun through the dark bars. As Morgan walked to him, he shot at her, which was futile. He groaned and tossed the gun back to Laurelei, and instead pulled water from the air and fired it at the incoming witch. This was much more effective, as Morgan stopped in her tracks to avoid the incoming water.

Morgan shouted something that sounded like nonsense, and the elf boy felt paralyzed**. The witch focused for a moment, and then fired a beam of uncharacteristic light at him, countering the other spell and sending his backwards until he hit the doors. When Jeremy opened his eyes, he had trouble focusing on much of anything, but he could tell when Morgan walked over to him holding a knife—or, since he couldn't actually tell, what he assumed was a knife. Before she could kill him or attempt to kill him or do whatever she was about to do, Jeremy turned his body to water and passed through her to materialize behind her.

The witch started to scream in pain, and she appeared to be burning while she melted. Soon, all that remained of Morgan was her clothing. The levitating teens fell slowly to the ground, and the darkness encasing Laurelei vanished. Jeremy caught Aelita before she hit the ground. Yumi looked around and asked, "What happened to Avalon—never mind, it's over there."

Sure enough, the dragon had collapsed at the top of the staircase, out of breath. They concluded Avalon had worn itself out trying to escape, and the demigoddess picked the dragon up and carried it out. The elf boy handed the human girl to Ulrich so he could try to get his eyes to focus.

Laurelei watched them leave, and she dug through Morgan's clothing. She found the vial of poison she'd once trusted the witch to watch over, and the gancanagh weighed it carefully in her hands. She looked around, and her eyes fell to the tanning booth. Laurelei placed the vial in the tanning booth, closed it, and turned the tanning booth up as high as it would go. She rushed out of the room.

* * *

*Avalon—eating the corpses of people and spiders it couldn't protect Aelita from like a boss.

* * *

**Gus used a similar spell in '_Live Free or Die,_' when Lyna and Ulrich were fighting.


	28. Chapter 28

_Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lucky Roots_

Though it had happened the day before, Jeremy hadn't ever gotten his eyes to regain focus. In addition, he'd also begun to lose his sight, and therefore, he'd acquired a blind spot, which was a new experience for him. He wondered why his sight hadn't returned to normal when Morgan died, though he noted whatever she'd done to him was worth it as long as Aelita was okay. He watched her as she slept, his head positioned awkwardly so she wasn't in his blind spot.

As Gus instructed the freed prisoners to board the helicopter, Lyna had returned and reported that she'd been looking for a cave or something of the like they could hide out in while they treated Aelita, and she'd stumbled across the camp the elves' mother Kya had grown up in. Luckily, the chief agreed to allow the teens to stay for a while, and that was where they were now, waiting for Gus to return with the helicopter.

Lyna entered the teepee* and removed the cloth from Aelita's forehead. She dunked it in the water blow and rung it out before she put it back on her forehead. The elf girl looked up to her brother, and she jumped. "Are you okay? What happened to your eyes?" She asked.

"Morgan shot light at me. I can't focus. Why? Do they look bad?" Jeremy said, shifting so he could see his sister.

"Oh, they don't look _bad…_" She said, "Unless you consider cataracts bad…"

This time, the elf boy jumped. "I have cataracts?" He asked.

She waved her hands. "No, no! Not entirely; but I think you're getting them…" She looked at his eyes more carefully. "Morgan died, right? So if she put a spell on you, it should've faded by now."

"I'm having my doubts it was a spell."

"So, maybe a curse? Or a hex…" She thought for a moment. "Is a hex a curse?"

"I think hexes are worse than curses."

Lyna shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter. I'll have Gus look at it when he gets back." She said. She looked down at Aelita. "What did Laurelei do when she saw Aelita?"

"Nothing, really. She asked me if she was Aelita, and then she turned to Morgan." Jeremy reported. "Did she say anything to you?"

"No,"

"Oh,"

There was an awkward silence. Avalon, who had curled up on Aelita, picked up its head. Aelita closed her eyes tighter and sort of hummed as she stretched. She blinked and looked at the elves. Lyna stood and said, "I'll go tell the others she's awake,"

Aelita watched the elf girl leave, and she tried to sit up. Jeremy pushed her shoulder gently. "Stay down," He advised.

"Where are we?" The human girl asked as the elf boy adjusted the cloth on her head.

"Wyoming, I guess," He said. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," She said, "just tired…"

"Just tired? Are you hungry?"

"No,"

"Thirsty?"

"No,"

"Relieved to be out of there?"

"Yes, but no,"

Jeremy thought for a moment, and then rubbed the back of his neck. "What all happened?"

Aelita sat up, despite the elf boy's advice. "Not much, actually. Laurelei dropped me off in the cell you found me in and attached me to the machine. Nobody really came in after that. I heard some people arguing, but that was it…"

"Um, about Laurelei…" Jeremy said, "Her friend Morgan has been pretending to be her since October of last year." He explained. "Every time you saw Laurelei, you actually saw Morgan."

The human girl contemplated that, and then fiddled with her fingers. "I guess that explains why Laurelei—Morgan, I mean—treated me so badly. I'd been wondering how she could do what she'd done if I was supposed to be her younger sister." She looked up to the elf boy again, and then laughed.

He was confused for a while. "What's so funny?" He asked eventually.

She pointed to his hair. "Can't you feel those robins pulling on your hair? I guess they want it for their nest." She smiled gently. "I don't blame them."

Jeremy blinked and brought his arms up. Sure enough, he could feel wings beat against his palms. He smiled, too, and he looked around for some scissors in vain. The elf boy shrugged. "I can't really feel them."

"Are you _used_ to having your hair pulled?" The human girl asked. He merely shrugged again as he stood. He exited the teepee and returned moments later, robin free. "So, what happened to Morgan? I kind of conked out there."

"Not much was exchanged in terms of words. She's dead, though, so it doesn't really matter…"

"Did _you_ kill her?"

"…In my defense, it was that or she kill me. You told her in December that it was the last time you'd protect her, anyway, so I figured you'd have me do it sooner or later…" The human girl shrugged, remembering the incident in December. "Besides, whether or not you believe me when I tell you this, whatever she did to you didn't help you. I can tell."

Aelita looked to her hands, and then her arms. "I don't feel any different, apart from being lightheaded." She reported. "And tired, like I said before."

Jeremy showed her the part of the chain that they'd removed from her ankle. When he brought his hand over it, a pink static shocked him. "That's your energy," He said softly, "Morgan was draining it. You can tell—your skin is as cold and white as snow."

"Apart from the cold, how is that different than before?" Her tone was sharp and getting sharper with each word.

"It was paper white before," He responded, almost mockingly.

The sound of a helicopter could be heard outside, and after it silenced, there came voices. Moments later, Gus entered the teepee with a young boy on his shoulders. The wizard placed the boy down and looked deep into Jeremy's eyes.

The scene was both humorous and awkward, as Gus wore a very serious expression and Jeremy didn't seem to remember why the wizard was doing what he was, and therefore wore a shocked expression. Aelita, who had been sleeping during the conversation the elf siblings had exchanged earlier, couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"I'm Sterling," The young boy Gus had been carrying on his shoulders said. "What's your name?"

Hesitating, she responded, "My name is Aelita."

Sterling didn't waste any time. "Are you feeling okay, Aelita? You don't look so good."

Before she could respond, Gus announced, "Yep, Morgan cursed your eyes. Explains why they still aren't working properly, even though she hit you with that light yesterday." The wizard took of the elf boy's glasses for a closer look. "I can cast a counter curse, but Morgan was a pretty powerful witch. I'll have to keep casting it until I can find a more permanent solution."

"Morgan cursed his eyes?" Aelita asked, rather confused about the concept.

The wizard nodded as he waved someone else in. "Yeah. His eyesight will keep getting progressively worse and worse. It's not black magic, but it's rather grey…" His voice trailed off.

"A _blindness curse_ isn't _black magic?_" She asked skeptically.

"Hey, his hearing will get better. Blindness and curses are black, heightened senses are white. They form grey!" He shrugged as a girl, probably as pale as Aelita, though taller entered the teepee. Her white hair was tied back into a bun, and she had pale blue eyes. The human girl knew at once the girl was albino. The albino girl wore a black dress that reached below her knees, untied black high tops and a lab coat. In her hands she held a black umbrella, and the human girl safely assumed it was to protect her skin from the sun. If what Jeremy said about her own skin was true, she began to consider getting an umbrella of her own. Aelita tried to picture herself with it.

The albino girl talked quietly and gently to Sterling, and then used the sleeve of her lab coat to wipe the dirt from the young boy's face. She then turned to Aelita and nervously offered her hand to the human girl. "Hi, I'm Merlin," She introduced herself. "I'm Morgan's twin sister. Or, I was. Oh, well. I don't blame Jeremy, and I'm glad to see a good example of the good outliving the bad." She smiled. "You know, because they always say that the good die young."

"I'm Aelita—" The human girl started.

"I know," Merlin interrupted. She seemed nervous.

The human girl smiled good naturedly. "Was Morgan…?" Her voice trailed off.

Merlin waited for her to finish, but when she didn't, she offered, "Albino?" She smiled again. "I'm not shy about, and you don't have to be shy about it, either. No, she wasn't. Morgan was normal, or, as normal as a black witch can get. I'm such a white witch I was born albino!" She was joking again.

"So, Morgan and Merlin. Like, from the King Arthur stories."

"Yes. I was supposed to be a boy, and my parents had their hearts set on Morgan and Merlin as baby names. Luckily, I'm albino…" She smiled. Merlin had a very warm personality. "Anyway, on to business. Morgan was draining your energy, so I've heard." Her warm smile vanished. "Have you been experiencing any dizziness, fatigue, um—oh, strokes or seizures or anything like that?"

Aelita's eyes looked like they were going to bug out of her head. "Can that all happen to me?"

Merlin nodded. "Afraid so, kiddo. You're going to need constant supervision by a doctor, just in case. I can tell by your aura that you've gone past the stage where your body can't hold onto your excess energy to the point where it isn't generating enough of it. Had your illness progressed naturally, this stage would've started when you were about… nineteen, I guess, and have passed without complications by age twenty or twenty-one. Since she drained your energy, though, your body reached this stage too soon, and you may face severe symptoms like strokes, seizures, cardiac arrest, um, things like that…" Merlin seemed to review in her head, in case she'd missed something. "Oh, yeah! Did your parents give you any medication?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll need to contact them about what Morgan did and get them over here. We also need to inform them that they didn't help you at all…"

"Why not?"

"The medication they gave you was probably to keep your energy from leaking out, and that's fine in the short term, but the problem with it is that when it wears off, your body put out more energy than it had before, which advances the illness. It slowly shortens the time your body has to get used to this stage, which is stage three… I think… it's been a while…"

That did not put much faith into the human girl. "Merlin?" She asked.

"Yes, Aelita?"

"Am I going to die?"

"…I don't know yet. If it's as bad as I think it is, yes, you're going to die," She placed a comforting hand on Aelita's shoulder. "Unless we find a cure." The white witch smiled warmly.

* * *

*I was torn between a teepee and a wigwam. I chose the teepee, even though wigwam is a cooler word.

* * *

A/N: Man, shit just got serious! Anyway, I've read several different stories that have references to Arthurian times, more specifically Morgan le Fay. Here's my question to you—did Morgan le Fay play a part in Arthur's death? I know she was an enchantress—that was the same in all the stories—but I only read something bad about her in one of the stories. Are any of you hip on King Arthur?


	29. Chapter 29

_Chapter Twenty-Nine: Shovel and Hatchet_

Aelita's illness could prove fatal. Even though Merlin had never said this directly, the words still pounded against Jeremy's skull, adding to the headache he already had, which had come from his vision's lack of focus and the voices of the ghosts that followed him.

Aelita's illness could prove fatal.

Aelita's illness could prove fatal.

Aelita's illness could prove fatal.

Aelita could _die._

No, Jeremy wasn't about to let that happen. He'd do whatever it took to keep her alive, and that was final. The elf boy did, of course, know that the first step was to make sure the Dark Shadows didn't return, and to do that he needed to keep her close by. But he couldn't bring her into dangerous situations! Frustrated, Jeremy admitted to himself that he couldn't always be the hero. He'd talk to McPhee when the returned to D.C about taking time off from the soldiering life to protect Aelita, but with that came the fact that, if push came to shove—which, with the death of Morgan, it would—the Xanadu would be watching them like white on rice, as his mother used to say when she knew he was in trouble but couldn't prove it, and the others had to protect the capitol. The only reason they'd been allowed to leave in the first place was because of Aelita.

Jeremy considered others who could help Merlin with the cure—Merlin admitted herself that she couldn't do it alone, and the others who had worked with her currently studied ways to make soldiers more durable. Laurelei was an option, as she'd shown to be rather loyal to Aelita to the point of finding a late friend's white sister to help with the human girl's illness. Yet the elf boy wasn't yet convinced he could trust the gancanagh, though he knew he was just holding a grudge at that point. William was another option, though he probably wouldn't do anything Laurelei didn't give him permission to do. Sterling was too young—much too young.

He suddenly came across a crazy, but otherwise brilliant idea. If Merlin had helped Xanadu with the research, Xanadu was clearly knowledgeable on the illness. After all, Menelwen said that Xanadu knew Aelita would get sick before her parents even decided to separate her two parts! It stood to reason that, if he could only find someone to get the items needed to create a cure, Xanadu and Merlin could create one before Aelita died!

The only problem was that Xanadu was dead. Resurrection was possible; however, Gus had once described it as the blackest magic could go. He'd gone on to say that most magic had sort of a karma effect, so there were no spells that killed, though, resurrection spells always came with a price. Anyone who had ever read a Stephan King book would tell you that you don't bring back the dead without a price. In any case, the last _real_ resurrection took place more than two hundred Earth years ago—Ulrich's resurrection hadn't been an actual resurrection, but merely the trapping of an earthbound soul inside a golem, and therefore did not count—and no one knew what became of the wizard who cast the spell or the person he'd tried to resurrect.

But if he could bring back Xanadu, the one-time leader of the Xanadu Clan could regain control of the clan and put a stop to the war. Two birds, one stone, he figured, though he was still stumped as to how he was to convince the others to perform a resurrection…

The elf boy rubbed his unfocused eyes. He'd become so deep in thought he'd forgotten to blink. Thanks to Gus' counter curse, Jeremy no longer had a blind spot; however, his vision was far from back to normal.

He stood up, which caught the attention of Avalon. "_Are you going somewhere?_" The dragon asked.

"I'm sick of sitting here," He answered, "I'm going for a walk, but I'm not going to leave the camp." The elf boy pulled back the cloth and stretched. He'd barely gone anywhere when Merlin approached him.

"How is she doing?" The white witch asked.

Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't really know. She's asleep now, or at least I think so. She loses consciousness every now and then." He said.

Merlin nodded. "Yes, that will happen." She couldn't seem to think of anything else, and walked away.

He looked around. There were people around him, though it seemed to be a crowded atmosphere. He guessed that the camp was a bit more hectic than the people who lived there were used to, and even though he couldn't see them, he could hear Lyna and an adult talking. The elf boy could hear the other teen creatures talking to one another, and he could hear the quiet snore that came from Sterling. Jeremy followed the voices of his friends and sat down with them. "What's going on?" He asked.

Gus was the first to answer. "Apparently, our presence here is attracting negative attention from both inside and outside the camp. The creatures outside of the camp want in, though the charms that protect it won't let them, and the people who live here think us sort of… odd… no offense, by the way." The last part had been directed to Odd, who waved off the comment. "Anyway, Lyna's talking to the chief. From what I hear, we're going to have to leave tomorrow."

"We're considering bringing Aelita back to your parents' house. Michael and Kya won't let anything hurt her, and we can't bring Sterling to a place as dangerous as Washington D.C, either." Yumi said.

"Though, once we drop them off, we'll have to bring Aelita's bodyguards to the house, too. McPhee definitely won't let us get away with trusting the Human Princess to two elves, one of them pregnant." Ulrich added, "Even if they could protect her, he'd still feel better with extra security."

Sam agreed. "Though, that still doesn't solve the problem of her disease…" The wood faerie said. "I contacted friends with access to the Xanadu's website, but they say Xanadu's studies aren't on the network anywhere."

"And even if they were on the network, the cure wouldn't be there. Merlin said that Xanadu died before he found it." Odd said.

The golem nodded, and then said, "I hope she has a copy of his studies. It's going to be tough going if she doesn't."

Yumi bit her lip before she said, "And, of course, _someone_ will have to contact Aelita's parents..." She shifted. "They must be worried about her."

Odd looked at her. "Why would they worry? McPhee contacted them when she first showed up so they knew she was safe."

The demigoddess glared at him. "He obviously contacted them again when she was kidnapped!" She pointed out. The cat boy nodded.

"Besides," Jeremy added, "They can't give her the medicine anymore. Merlin said that, too." He thought for a moment. "According to her, they shouldn't have given it to her in the first place, but that's beside the point…"

Lyna, at that moment, emerged, and she reported, "Cha'akmongwi says that we can spend the night and we have until the sun reaches the center of the sky to leave." She looked to Odd and clarified, "That means we have to leave at noon. He actually said noon, but I wanted him to sound more stereotypically American Indian." The elf girl sat down next to her brother and asked, "So, B.B, how's Shrimpy doing?"

"She's asleep," He said simply, "And you're a nut."

She smiled. "And proud!" Her face became serious. "Did Merlin say it would be safe to move her?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I didn't ask. Did any of you?"

"She said it would be safe to move her if she was able to walk, with or without assistance." Yumi said. "If Aelita can't walk, something's wrong."

"Did she say what?" The elf boy asked.

Yumi shook her head. "No,"

The elves sighed, and there was silence for a moment. "Laurelei was out here earlier, wasn't she? And William, too." Lyna said. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know," Gus shrugged. "Merlin gave us the news, and they were here for that, but they wandered off after you went to talk to Chalk… Chant… Chan—the chief."

"Cha'akmongwi?" Lyna offered.

"Yeah, him." The wizard nodded. He waved it off. "Anyway, it's not all that important. What's more important is figuring out the cure. Merlin sounded pretty confident about it…"

The golem shrugged. "That's true, but she did say Xanadu died before he figured it out. We just covered this…"

"Shut up, Ulrich! This is a good review for me!" The elf girl snapped.

Ulrich raised his hands in defense, and the wood faerie continued the conversation. "Regardless, we need to approach this logically," She smoothed her hair before she added, "If Xanadu couldn't come up with a cure, what could he be missing?" Sam laughed. "Since he was obviously a pretty smart guy, it was probably something obvious."

"Sam, we don't know what he's missing because we don't know what he knows!" Odd pointed out.

As the others argued for a while, Jeremy considered what Menelwen had said at Yggdrasil; if Aelita became sick by losing the creature part of herself, she could, in theory, become well by reuniting with it. But as simple as it sounded, Menelwen had also said that it would only work, firstly in theory, and secondly if her creature part had survived, which it hadn't. However, Aelita's creature part had died when it was only three years old, so it was likely it wandered on near the place it died, confused and lonely. It likely died in the palace, but as fate would have it, the palace was crawling with vampires! It was one thing after another!

The elf boy apparently had been narrating his thoughts aloud, because when he looked up, his friends were staring at him. "Jeremy," Lyna said in a sickly sweet tone. "Is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"When Aelita and I were on Lyoko, Menelwen told us about the history of the Human Royalty, and about why Aelita was sick. I was just thinking that, if there were some way to reunite her human and creature parts, she wouldn't be sick anymore. The only problem with that is…" Jeremy's voice trailed off.

"…Aelita's creature part is dead," A voice behind him said. The creatures turned to find Laurelei standing behind them, with William behind her. Her makeup had smeared around her eyes, suggesting that she'd been crying until recently. She walked closer to them. "It wouldn't be so much of an issue if her body was preserved, but her skeleton is probably dust mixed with other dust by now, _if_ we're lucky. You'll need to find another way to reach her creature part."

"Do you have any ideas?" Sam asked.

Laurelei looked to the wood faerie, and then sort of half-smiled. "No, I don't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on." There was, in that instant, the faintest trace of deception written on Laurelei's face, but it wasn't necessarily sinister, and it vanished almost as soon as it came. She called out her wings and fluttered them briefly before grabbing hold of William. "I hope you don't mind, but I have a… prior commitment. I'm truly very sorry. Send Aelita my love, and I wish you luck." She seemed to want to take off when she added, "Don't hesitate to call me if you need my help again."

The gancanagh flew off, headed east. She'd done so hastily, and all of the teens felt like she'd said they could call her, but she didn't really mean it. Though, once again, she didn't seem to do so malevolently…

* * *

A/N: What's Laurelei planning?


	30. Chapter 30

_Chapter Thirty: Mama Drama_

The trip back to West Virginia took roughly four days for all of it, as helicopters are usually not made for cross-country trips and had to stop several times, and then they spent the night at the elf siblings' parents' home. Most of the teens set off again the following morning, but then returned later in the day with Aelita's bodyguards and McPhee. McPhee didn't stay long, however, and then the teens set off again with him, with the exception of Jeremy, who stayed because of Aelita's nightmares.

Merlin explained to Michael and Kya what was going on with Aelita. Jeremy offered to let the human girl and the white witch to stay in his room, even after Merlin had pointed out that her illness now came with certain complications and for the time being the elves had to keep their visitations to the minimum until she could determine how Aelita's body would react to certain diseases that naturally only effected elves—she then laughed and noted playfully that it wouldn't take long, for elves were usually free of disease that could affect humans at all, let alone negatively, but the joke fell flat. Kya had tried to reason with the elf boy that the human girl could stay in one of the girls' rooms, but he'd insisted with a very long argument that _somehow_ came to the conclusion that their couch was rather comfortable.

Sterling took the boys' room, and Kya had enlisted Michael's help to pull out the toy chest from the attic for the human boy to play with. The elf woman didn't look all that pregnant as of yet, but she did look different in some way, and the elf man did, too…*

* * *

"Mom, are you okay? You look really stressed out," Jeremy pointed out the first Friday after his return to West Virginia. His mother looked up from the pot of tea she was making, and nodded silently. "Suspiciously vague answer," The elf boy pointed out loudly. She laughed, and then smelled the tea. "And what's up with the tea? You don't drink tea. Dad doesn't, either, and all I drink is water, soda and hot chocolate."

Kya pulled out a tea set and handed him the sugar bowl. "Will you put sugar in this for me, please? And _please_ don't eat it," She asked.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "As if," He said.

"Don't 'as if' me, young man! You'd put sugar on sugar if we'd let you!" The elf woman said, and her son laughed. She, too, laughed and then rolled her eyes. Sure, she might have put it in a silly way, but she was entirely serious. She wondered if Aelita knew about Jeremy's sugar obsession. Kya shrugged, and she explained, "Anyway, it's not for us. I was in my garden yesterday and Marty stopped by. He and Marni are coming because they didn't get a chance to really meet your girlfriend the last time she was here, and they didn't know she was Human Royalty, anyway. Oh, yes, and he said that they were bringing Diego and Gabriel."

"Really? That'll be fun." He said. Marty and Marni were ogres, and Diego and Gabriel were creatures like Odd—half-human, half-animal. Diego was a mouse, and Gabriel was a bird of prey. Ironically enough, the two of them were gay. Jeremy counted his blessings on that one, because he might've been jealous of Diego otherwise. The mouse-man _was_ rather adorable, and so was his incredibly large family of mice-people—Gabriel often joked his significant other's family was so large because they were Mexican, but it was more likely because they were… well, part _mouse._

His mother nodded silently, and the elf boy looked at her for a while. He placed the sugar bowl on the tray and then asked, "Mom, is something bothering you?"

Kya looked nervously between her son and her teapot, and she didn't say anything for a while. "Watch the teapot while I put the tray on the coffee table," She finally said, picking it up and attempting to enter the living room. Jeremy stepped into her way, and when she tried to walk around him, he stepped into her way again. "Jeremy, you're being childish."

"Why? Because I love you and I'm concerned?" He asked. His mother didn't say anything, so he asked again, "Is something bothering you?"

There was a moment of silence, and Aelita entered the room, which only made the atmosphere more awkward. "Aelita, some of our friends are coming for tea, and they want to meet you." Kya said.

The human girl half-laughed. "What are we, British?" She joked. "That's fine. I'd really like to meet them, too." Aelita said seriously, and she took a deep breath in. She smiled, "It smells really good, anyway." Avalon trotted in behind.

The elf boy looked harshly at his mother. "Mom, please stop avoiding the question!"

"I'm not avoiding the question! I felt like Aelita should know that she was invited to tea without her knowledge!" Kya defended herself.

"Then answer the goddamn question!" Jeremy demanded.

Kya looked up at the ceiling, and then huffed. "It's your mother that's bothering me," She admitted.

The human girl heard this and blinked. She remembered the dream she'd once had with Puck, and she remembered seeing Jeremy's biological mother being confronted by a gancanagh. "His mother is still alive?" She blurted out.

The elf woman turned to face her. "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't she?" Kya said, like it was obvious.

Aelita realized that the elves probably didn't know about the gancanagh, and she said quickly, "Uh, I don't know. I wasn't really aware of the circumstances surrounding his mother, so I guess I just assumed…" She'd lied so the elves wouldn't provoke her, but now she wondered how Jeremy's mother could've survived fourteen years. Had she gotten an antidote, like Jeremy had? It was a mystery.

The elf woman shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know the circumstances, either. I asked Michael about it when we were first dating, but he didn't want to talk about it."

Jeremy looked back to his mother. "Why is my mother bothering you?" He asked.

"She, uh… she wants full custody," Kya admitted, walking around her son in his state of shock.

He turned. "Are you serious? This woman I don't even know is trying to take me from my home—my family?" He said. "She can't do that. I've never even gotten a letter or a phone call, let alone a visit! I—I don't know who that… that _bitch_ thinks she is!"

Kya put the tray on the coffee table. "Aelita, will you check to see if the water is boiling?" She asked before turning back to Jeremy. "Jeremy, don't say things like that. I know you must be hurt, but she's you _mother, _for God's sake!"

"I don't _care!_ She _abandoned_ me and she _never_ tried to contact me before—Mom, what's with that guilty look all over your face?" He knew the answer before his mother even said it. "She… she _did_ try to contact me, didn't she?"

The elf woman nodded. "She sent letters, and she called sometimes. Your dad… he didn't want you to get to know your mother. He told me that, uh… he told me that he was _scared…_"

"Scared of _what?_"

"Scared that you'd like your mother more and leave him for her, I guess. Like I said, I asked, but he wouldn't tell me. Why don't _you_ ask him when he gets back from the store?"

Jeremy scoffed. "Because I'd really leave the man who raised me for the—" At this point, the elf boy used a word Aelita had never heard him use before, but it sounded very rude, "—who left us on my _actual_ day of birth!"

"_Jeremy!_" Kya exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands. "Take that back! I read the letters she sent you. She loves and misses you!"

"Mom, she's trying to take me away from you! How can you tell me to take that back?"

His mother walked over to him and embraced him. "Because your mother brought you into this world, and I'm grateful to her for that," She said. The elf boy huffed, but he didn't continue shouting. The elf woman released him and asked, "Is the water boiling, Aelita?"

Aelita had been so caught up in their shouting, she'd forgotten to check. She opened the lid to the teapot and said, "Yes,"

Kya thanked her and walked back into the kitchen to turn the boiling water into tea. Jeremy leaned against a wall, probably contemplating what he'd heard. Aelita went for the back door so she could hopefully get out of earshot of the elves and discuss with Avalon what she should do. She felt bad that she knew more about the elf boy's biological mother than he did. The human girl was about to open it when Jeremy said, "I'm guessing that no judge would send me to live with someone I don't know if you and Dad are drug-free and not in jail, so my guess is that she wants to meet me first, right?" Aelita cursed inside her head. Though she wanted the dragon's advice, she wanted to know how this would develop first and more.

"She hasn't _actually_ filed for a custody battle yet," The elf woman said, "She and Michael talked over the phone after we got the call that you and Aelita were coming home. She's coming over this evening so you two can talk under supervision."

"_Great,_" The elf boy said sarcastically. Both their heads and ears perked up, and Kya took in a sharp, nervous breath.

Aelita looked between them. "Is… your mother here?" She asked.

Jeremy shook his head and explained, "No, my dad's home."

The front door opened and shut, and apprehensive, Aelita pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. Michael walked into the kitchen, greeted the three warmly, placed a brown paper bag on the table and kissed his wife. He looked between his son's sour expression and his wife's nervous one. "I thought we agreed that I would tell him," He said to Kya.

"I know, but he could tell that I was being bothered by something and he wasn't moving until I told him!" Kya explained. "I'm sorry,"

Michael placed his hand on her shoulder, and then walked over to Jeremy. He didn't say anything at first, but then apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that your mother was trying to contact you," He couldn't bear to look at what he knew was an unforgiving expression. "And I'm sorry that my choices have put you into this position."

Aelita sighed. She'd actually been forced to talk to her own parents several days earlier, and her father hadn't apologized to her, period. However, she was also sure Jeremy wanted to be in anyone's shoes but his own. The grass, she reasoned, was always greener.

After a moment of silence, the elf boy said, "Dad, it's alright. I'm sure you had your reasons," He looked up to Michael. "But, what were they?"

Michael didn't respond right away. "I'm not allowed to tell you. Your mother and I agreed that we weren't going to talk to you about why we split up, and my reasons have to do with that."

"…Then can I ask you another question?" Jeremy asked.

"Was that the question?" His father joked.

"No," The elf boy said, and they both half-laughed. There was another pause, and Jeremy finally asked, "What do I _call_ her?"

It sounded like a silly question to Aelita at first, but she thought about it for a moment, and it sounded more rational. After all, for the past eight years, Kya had been his mother, and if his biological mother was back in the picture, it would probably be strange for him to call her anything motherly.

"Well, you could call her 'Mom,' or 'Mother,' or 'Female Parental Advisor,'" Michael suggested, "or you could call her by her name, like I do,"

"What _is_ it?" His son asked, exasperated.

He huffed. "Jessamine**," There was a pause. "I called her Jess when we were married, but not so much anymore…" His voice trailed off.

* * *

*Yeah, sorry about the **H U G E** time gap. All of this would've taken an entire chapter to do, and I _really_ need to make things move faster if I'm going to make my chapter goal. How many, you ask? Guess. No, I mean it, guess… anyway, I promise I'll try not to have (m)any of these massive time gaps in the future. Cross my heart! CROSS IT!

* * *

**From what I understand, Jeremy's mother's name is not mentioned in the series. However, I've been wrong before (I did, after all, call Michael Jon before I knew his name) and I'll gladly change it if any of you can prove me wrong.

* * *

A/N: My grandmother is sort of short, and when she asked me to clean the mirror in the master bath, I said, "It's probably easier for me to do this than you, anyway…" She was all like, "Yeah, especially since I'm sort of short," I was like, "Hey, with your light eyes and reddish hair, you could tell people you're short because you're part leprechaun."

Well, she sort of laughed like she was slightly offended, but amused, and I said, "Hey, leprechauns are awesome! They have pots of gold at the end of rainbows!" She was like, "I'd be a leprechaun if I got a pot of gold! Do you know how much gold is worth? $1,700 an ounce (€1177.76)! So, some of those rappers ought to be careful…" And I was like, "Yeah, especially if they go to a foreign country!"


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter Thirty-One: Mothers and Monsters_

"Marty, Marni! You two clean up so nice!" Kya smiled as she let the ogres inside. Marty had cleaned off all the dirt on his skin and the blood from his teeth. His skin was revealed to be the color of a tangerine's peel. He wore a dress shirt, black slacks and shiny black dress shoes. His wife, Marni, had skin a dark shade of puce, wiry hair the color of copper and a more petite stature. She, like her husband, had long, clawed fingers, sharp teeth, small ears, a pronounced forehead and deep-set eyes; however, her face was heart-shaped rather than round. She wore a white dress and white peep-toe boots.

At their feet stood Diego and Gabriel. Diego was more mouse than human—he was covered in grey fur, had a mouse's face and mouse ears pushed down due to his straw hat. His hands were clearly human, but appeared to be made of mouse skin. He stood only an inch or two taller than Sterling, was tailless, and wore overalls with one strap undone and Wellington boots, shined neatly.

Gabriel, on the other hand, was more human than bird. He was slightly taller than Diego and had brown hair. His nose was pointed at the tip like a beak, and his face came out into points at his eyebrows. From the front, he didn't seem to resemble a bird in any other way, albeit the four clawed toes on each foot. If he turned, one could see that the skin on his arms slowly shifted into several rows of brown feathers.

Kya smiled at Diego and Gabriel. "Is it just me, or do the two of you get more adorable every time I see you?" She asked.

"Oh, Kya, you say the sweetest things!" Gabriel said. "Oh! I heard a joke I think you'd just _love!_ What's the difference between a gay man and a Nazi?"

She blinked, and stepped aside so the creatures could enter. "I don't know; what is the difference between a gay man and a Nazi?" She asked.

Gabriel grinned. "Forty-five degrees!" He motioned with his hand in a way he hoped wouldn't offend her, and then burst out into laughter. "You see, I can tell jokes like that, because I'm gay!" He said.

Diego shook his head. "Sí, but you do not need to gay it up in front of our hostess," He said in his Hispanic accent. Every time she heard Diego talk, the only thing Kya could think of was the Mexican mouse from '_Looney Toons._' She felt bad because of it, but couldn't make herself stop.

The creatures sat down, and Michael brought in the teapot. Aelita, who'd never had tea before, planned to only have a single cup of tea, but Diego and Gabriel positioned themselves on the floor next to her feet, and when she finished a cup, Gabriel would shout, "Empty cup!" and Diego would take the teapot to pour her more tea.

"I'm so happy to meet you, princess. This really is an honor," Marni said, nervously folding her hands into her lap.

Aelita smiled nervously. "Please don't call me 'princess.' I can't deny that I am an actual princess, but it's still weird to have that important a title."

Marni seemed surprised, and she apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you!"

The human girl looked away, and then back with a half-grin. "You didn't,"

"Oh, good! Because I didn't mean to," The ogre smiled.

The human girl smiled back, and then leaned over to Jeremy. "Why is this so awkward?" She asked.

Jeremy didn't respond, and then he suddenly looked at her with a shocked expression that quickly turned apologetic. "I wasn't even paying attention. What's going on?" He asked loudly.

Aelita shook her head and looked to Avalon. "_Why are you looking at me? I do not know what I should tell you,_" The dragon said.

"Hey, did anyone ask Merlin if she wanted tea?" The elf boy asked.

"Yes, I did, but she said that she doesn't like tea and that she has to get my blood work done, anyway." Aelita said. She'd been excited to meet the friends of Jeremy's family at first, but now that something much more interesting was brewing, she'd focused in on that and the tea party she currently attended was becoming very, very tedious very, very quickly.

"Why did you need to have blood work done?" Marty asked.

Aelita, who'd leaned her head on her hand, sat up a little bit. "I've got this weird illness, and it recently took a turn for the worst. She was testing for white blood cells, my immunity… stuff like that," She explained. The human girl finished off her tea.

"Empty cup!" Gabriel shouted, and Diego poured more tea into her cup.

Jeremy rubbed his ears. "Is that completely necessary?" The elf boy asked. Gabriel nodded.

Marty looked very concerned. "By worst, do you mean…?" He asked.

"I'm dying, yes," The human girl said. The creatures seemed shocked, and couldn't say anything for a moment. Their words of concern and sympathy then came all at once, but when Michael stood up, Aelita watched him. He walked to the door, and she held up her pointer finger so she could hear him. Immediately, the creatures stopped talking, and she took her eyes off of Michael to stare at them. She took her wrist in her free hand, shook it and shouted, "I must use this power for **good!**" Jeremy burst out laughing, and she looked at him strangely. "Why are you laughing…?" She asked.

He just smiled at her. "I'm not laughing," He lied.

"You were," She said.

"No, I wasn't," He lied again.

"Yes, you were!"

"No; that was somebody else,"

While the two teens argued, Kya stood and walked over to Michael. "Is she here?" She asked.

Michael shook his head. "No, not yet. But she is walking up the mountain now," He said.

His wife blew a stray hair from her face. "How long do you think we have?"

"Probably a good hour. She's wearing _ridiculous_ high heels." Her husband said.

There was a pause. "You… _did_ tell her she'd be walking, right?"

"Yes, I did. I also told her that her walking would take place on a mountain. She _chose_ to wear high heels!"

* * *

A little more than forty-five minutes later, the creatures had left, and Kya helped Jeremy get ready for his mother's visit. Sterling played with a toy train conducted by a '_Beanie Baby_' on the living room floor, making car noises. Michael and Aelita washed the dishes from the tea party. The doorbell rang, and Kya stood up. "Oh, lord. Oh, lord!" She panicked, flailing her hands slightly.

"Calm down!" Jeremy said, grabbing his mother's hands. "You act as if that's, like, Hitler or somebody on the other side of that door!"

Kya took in deep breaths. "I get the feeling that it might as well be," She whispered as she walked to the door, faked a smile and opened it. On the other side stood a very beautiful elf woman, taller than Kya. Her skin was white and, for the most part, evenly toned, excluding the freckles that decorated the bridge of her nose and her cheekbones. She had dark blue eyes and wavy, blonde hair that reached her waist. She wore a sky blue V-neck sweater with an argyle pattern, dark brown slacks and high heeled sandals. Kya felt very insecure next to her, as she wore a loose orange tee-shirt and whitewashed jeans. "Hi," She said, "You must be Jessamine. I'm Kya, Michael's wife."

Kya stepped aside so Jessamine could enter. "Hi," Jessamine smiled, "It's nice to meet you, finally." The women shook hands awkwardly.

Jessamine entered the living room, and the moment her eyes locked with Jeremy's the elf boy stood up. Michael entered the room moments after, and Aelita tried her best to watch while staying out of Jessamine's line of sight.

"So, Jess, how long has it been?" Michael asked, trying to stay calm and ease the tense, awkward atmosphere.

"Fourteen_ years,_" Jessamine looked at her ex-husband sharply, her long hair flying away momentarily due to her nearly instantaneous head turn. "Not days, not weeks, not months; _years, _Michael."

The elf man huffed. "Listen, I gave my word that I wasn't going to do this. It'd be cool if you could do the same," He said. "Besides, you aren't here to argue with me, are you?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Jessamine, too, huffed, but she looked again at Jeremy, and there was another really long silence. "Uh, hi," Jeremy said eventually, only to break the silence.

"Hi, Jeremy," Jessamine said, her straight face breaking into a smile, and she embraced him. The elf boy suddenly let out a small, sharp whimper, and Michael automatically tensed. "I'm so sorry! Did I catch you with my nail?" She asked, releasing him. She caught a glimpse of her tense ex-husband, and she rolled her eyes. "Please relax. I'm not going to hurt him on purpose!"

"Don't think I've forgotten what you tried to do!" Michael shouted.

Aelita's interest increased at that moment, and apparently, Kya and Jeremy felt the same. "What does that mean?" Jeremy asked, looking between Michael and Jessamine.

There came no answer from either of them, and Kya turned to her husband. "Michael, what does it mean?" She asked, and there still came no answer.

The tense atmosphere subconsciously lured Aelita towards the elves, Avalon staying close at her heels. Jessamine saw her and started smiling again. "Hi there! Who are you?" She asked.

Aelita realized quickly that Jessamine was speaking to her, and when that became apparent on the human girl's face, Jeremy jumped in. He walked over to her and stood next to her. "Oh, um…" He started, and just as quickly, he became stumped. "…this is Aelita," He finally said, and then stopped again. "My girlfriend." He added.

"Are you feeling okay?" Aelita whispered to him. Jeremy looked at her from the corner of his eye and shook his head, mouthing the word 'no.' "What's wrong?" She asked.

"This is the second most awkward conversation I have ever had, trumped _only_ by the time I had to explain to my parents that I was having sex with an _adult,_" The elf boy explained, and he grimaced at mere mention of the conversation. He then mouthed the word 'awkward' to her.

Jessamine walked over to the teens. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Alyssa," She said.

"Aelita," The human girl corrected her.

"Right. Terribly sorry!" She apologized. She reached out to shake Aelita's hand, but Avalon started growling. "Oh, my gosh! That is a dragon!" She exclaimed.

Aelita looked down to Avalon and then back to the elf woman. "Yes, this is Avalon."

"Why is it growling at me?"

"I don't know. Maybe it just doesn't like you," The human girl said frankly, and the elf boy next to her motioned for her not to make another comment like that, yet she ignored him. "To be quite honest with you, Jessamine," She continued, "I don't quite like you either."

Jeremy and Kya both seemed horrified that she'd said something like that, but Michael laughed. "She's a keeper, son!" He said to his son.

"Thanks, Dad," He nodded, and then added quietly, "Great help _you_ are…"

Jessamine looked up, appeared to be holding in an angry comment, and then asked, "Why? You seem like a nice girl, and _I_ like _you._"

"Where have you been for the past fourteen years?" Aelita asked.

"Trying to get in touch with my son," The elf woman defended herself.

"Firstly, he's _not_ your son," The human girl said sharply. "_You_ didn't take care of him, like a mother should. Even _my_ lame excuse for a mom did that. Secondly, _why_ did you want to get in touch with him?"

"I'm his mother, whether or not you think so!" She argued, "I'll regret to the day I die leaving him, and I _just_ want to make up for lost time."

"If my IQ were just a _few_ points lower, I might believe you. Why are you _really_ here?"

"Alright, I think we've heard enough out of you," Kya finally intervened, picking up Sterling from the floor and walking over to where Aelita stood. She took the human girl's hand and led her into the master bedroom. "We'll just leave the three of you alone for now, okay?" She suggested as she slammed the door shut. "What are you doing?" The elf woman asked.

The human girl shrugged. "I _really_ get the feeling she's up to something."

"So do I! It's called '_full custody!_'" Kya said, and she then rubbed her temple. "I don't like having her here, either. But I don't want to have custody battle even more," She said, "I doubt Jessamine wants that, and _you_ are _not_ helping."

Aelita sighed. "I know," She admitted. She heard Jessamine and Jeremy talking on the other side of the wall, and she crawled over to the wall and placed her ear against it. Sterling, upon seeing this, crawled over and listened to the elves, too.

After several minutes, the human boy asked, "What are we listening for?"

* * *

Once Aelita had explained what she knew about Jessamine to Avalon, she looked up to the night sky. "_That is not surprising. Jessamine appears to be somewhat… unstable,_" Avalon said, curling up on the stoop. The door opened behind them, and when they turned to see who stood behind them, they saw Jessamine.

"Uh, good evening, Jessamine!" Aelita greeted nervously. "I'm… sorry about what I said earlier…"

Jessamine shook her head. "Save it, Alisha," She said.

The human girl huffed. "_Aelita,_" She corrected.

"It doesn't matter! Listen, I know what you know, and I know who you want to tell," She said, getting on eye level with the human girl, "And I'm telling you now, if you do…" She pulled out a hunting knife from a hidden sheath and held it close to Aelita's lips. "…you aren't going to have a tongue left to say anything to anyone. Understood?"

She eyed the elf woman angrily, but agreed. Jessamine smiled sweetly and walked off, only to push past Diego, who ran down the mountain. "Oh, Miss Aelita, Miss Aelita!" He called out, "¡Tengo que decirte algo!"

* * *

A/N: Tengo que decirte algo=I need to tell you something


	32. Chapter 32

_Chapter Thirty-Two: Bombs Away_

Waldo and Anthea Schaffer had panicked after receiving McPhee's call about Aelita having been kidnapped, and were still in hysterics when she called them a day or so after to tell them her captors had taken her somewhere around Nanjing, China. Too distraught to contemplate the probability of this, they booked a plane as soon as they could and flew to the Chinese city of Nanjing.

They spent many days there, asking the people they saw if, by any chance, they had seen their daughter—like Anthea spoke English, Waldo spoke Mandarin. At night, they called Aelita in hopes to receive more information from her, but she never answered. Her parents were beginning to think she'd died, and didn't even begin to suspect that she'd lied to them.

However, one day at about nine in the morning, as Waldo and Anthea were out looking for Aelita, the grey, cloudy sky was lit up by an immense white light. It was somewhat pretty, as it was so incredibly bright, but it didn't seem at all good, and things were moving in slow motion. Waldo realized what was going on faster than Anthea did, and he shouted at her to run. His order came too late, as the violent shaking filled their ears and blocked out all noise. Waldo grabbed his wife's wrist and then ran. She was stunned at first, and then was capable of running herself, and she yanked her hand away as to not slow down her husband. There came a shock wave in both senses of the phrase—the pressure and the temperature increased, and people around them began to panic. Things began to fall, from buildings to telephone poles to just about everything else. Even Waldo himself was forced to the ground shortly before a deafening roar.

He was only half-conscious. He could tell he was badly burned. His clothing had ripped in some places and his glasses had fallen off, bent beyond repair only centimeters in front of him. Before he lost consciousness altogether, he glanced to his watch. Only seconds had passed since the light had come. Why had it felt like hours? Waldo wasn't quite sure. He thought of his wife, and he thought of Aelita. His thoughts wandered to Laurelei before he lost consciousness…

* * *

Diego's information was something awful had happened to China, and reports said that the Xanadu Clan was behind it. Aelita, remembering she'd instructed her parents to go to China, rushed inside and downstairs to the basement, flipping on the television set to the news. She heard Merlin say something to her, but she waved the white witch off and listened intently. The woman on-screen switched to a man standing at a podium outside of a building. Aelita quickly recognized the man as Xana. Flipping on the French subtitles so she didn't have to waste time translating, the human girl read what they said.

'_The Xanadu Clan had nothing to do with the atomic bomb unleashed upon Nanjing, China. The true perpetrators are the vampires of Lyoko. Our former allies, they informed us that, hearing that the Human Royalty was in Nanjing, took the opportunity to destroy them. They did not completely accomplish this goal. We of the Xanadu Clan are formally withdrawing ourselves from the war, and have become allies with the human race in order to punish the menace behind this devastating attack. The Xanadu Clan has once again devoted itself to returning the Human King Franz to this rightful throne._'

Xana then left the podium to enter the building, ignoring the dozens of reporters shouting at him. The woman returned to the screen, and dictated that the atomic bomb that fell on Nanjing destroyed five-point-six square miles, and appeared to have been centered over a hotel that the human girl's parents had been staying at. "Wow, I wonder what made Xana act like that," Merlin said from behind her. Aelita looked up, and Merlin explained, "I mean, his tone suggested that he was really upset. He never got upset, not even when Xanadu died. And for him to want King Franz to return to his throne? It must've been something awful…" She thought for a while, and then jumped when Aelita started crying. She was even more shocked when blood ran like rivers down her white face. "Aelita? What's wrong?" The white witch asked.

"This is all my fault! I told them to go to China!" She cried out.

Merlin sat down next to her. "You can't blame this on yourself. You didn't tell the vampires to do what they did, and no one could've seen it coming. This is not your fault." She said.

The human girl shook her head. "They wouldn't have even gone to China if I hadn't lied to them!" She shouted.

"The vampires knew that they couldn't drop the bomb on Hermitage because a lot of your power remains there, and it would've protected it. No matter where you told them you were, the vampires would've taken advantage of their absence and destroyed of them." Merlin explained.

"Then I shouldn't have told them anything!" She said. The white witch, try as she might to tell her otherwise, could not convince Aelita that she wasn't responsible. Jeremy entered the basement, and upon seeing the human girl in tears, could only give her a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

When he woke, Waldo realized he was in a hospital room. His skin was burned with a pattern exactly like the texture of his shirt had been, yet the area where his watch had been on his wrist wasn't burned. Waldo found his glasses and struggled to sit up, and an old man rushed to his side. The man had shorter than shoulder length white hair and a receding hairline. His face was wrinkled, but clean shaven. He had cat-like green eyes.

Waldo looked into the face of his father, Xanadu. "Are you alright, Franz*, my boy?" Xanadu asked.

"Dad!" Waldo exclaimed, "I thought you were dead! Wait, I _knew_ you were dead!"

Xanadu's face didn't change. "I'm quite alive now, thank you very much!" He said, crossing his arms. He turned and opened up a medicine cabinet, retrieved a container of cream and opened it. The elderly creature then warned, "This may sting a bit."

Waldo flinched as his father rubbed cream into the burns. "Dad, what happened?" He asked. The human man already knew. "Never mind, how are you alive?"

Rather than answering him, his father only handed Waldo a piece of paper with a note scribbled on it. The note read as follows:

'_My Dear Grandfather, I know that you and I did not always get along, especially not after we thought Aelita died. But we were wrong. All of Lyoko was wrong. Aelita and Anthea did not die. While this in itself is great news, it is overshadowed by great misfortune. Morgan kidnapped Aelita and drained her energy, and now my beloved younger sister faces certain death at the now fatal hands of her illness. I have left her in the capable hands of Merlin, but without you, Aelita has no chance of recovery. That is why I've sacrificed myself for you. All I ask in return is that you fulfill my dying wish. –Laurelei_'

Waldo was unsure of how to react. He merely folded the note and returned it to his father. Xanadu was disgusted at how coolly his son reacted to his eldest daughter's suicide note that also pleaded for his youngest daughter's life, but he decided not to address it at that time. _After all,_ he told himself, _people mourn in different ways._ "Do you know how Aelita and Anthea are doing now?" The human man asked.

"I contacted Merlin, and she informed me that Aelita, though traumatized and feeling very guilty, is fine. They were in West Virginia, not China." Xanadu informed him, and he saw anger flash in his son's eyes. "Anthea, however…"

"What about Anthea?" He asked.

"Anthea… died. She was crushed when a construction project collapsed. It also killed all of the workers and many people nearby." He finished sadly. "She passed before we could reach either of you."

Waldo stared at his father for a long time before he burst out into tears. Tears soon turned to anger, and he shouted, "This is all _his_ fault!" He tipped over a nearby table that held his watch.

Xanadu, confused, asked, "Whose fault? Who is 'he'?"

"_Jeremy Belpois!_" The human man shouted.

The creature man remembered the name Jeremy Belpois. He and his sister, Karolyna Kiovote, had been fighters around the time Xanadu had died. In fact, Xanadu recalled, he'd even attended one of their fights before he'd died. He questioned how his son knew of the elf boy, but received no distinct answer. In his head, the creature noted bitterly that, unless Jeremy was working with the vampires, the atomic bomb had in no way been his fault, but Waldo's own fault for believing such an obvious lie told by a teenage girl who was very much enjoying her freedom.

* * *

Aelita cried for a good three hours on Jeremy's shoulder, which left a considerably sized blood stain on his shirt. She never truly stopped crying, but rather cried herself to sleep. Racked with guilt of the countless lives lost at her expense, the human girl dreamed of her parents, surrounded by many other people, running from the explosion. Rather than running, she stood still and let the incoming light engulf her.

* * *

*Xanadu didn't get the memo.

* * *

A/N: I asked several people if it was too soon for an atomic bomb joke, and they all said 'no,' so… anyway, the reason I chose China is… well, I just don't like China! I don't hate the Chinese, mind you, just China. I don't know why. I just don't, okay?


	33. Chapter 33

_Chapter Thirty-Three: The Onslaught, Part One_

"What do you see?" Odd asked.

"Water." Gus said.

And it was appropriate for him to say! The naval base the teenage creatures, excluding Jeremy, were docked on was, obviously, surrounded by water. But still, the attack on China was a severe blow to the nations allied against the creatures, and that was why McPhee was sending his best in. This was the navy seals, and the Titans.

Lyoko was but a speck on the horizon. It was strange; the sea was so calm around the base, as if the ocean itself was on their side, but a tower of smoke rose from The islands. Was there already a rebellion? They had no way of knowing.

"I guess this is it," Odd said. "It's do or die. I lean towards 'do.'" He laughed. The wizard laughed, too-for his sake.

Ulrich, Yumi and Lyna approached from the captain's quarters, and Sam found her way down from the highest vantage point she could find. She'd been very disappointed to learn the naval base had no crow's nest. "We have our orders. We'll proceed further alone. The seals will follow us." Ulrich said.

"Great! Gus here has been dying to get a move on for hours," Odd smiled.

The wizard glared at him. "Speak for yourself,"

"Gentlemen, please," Yumi scolded.

Lyna grinned. "Here's the real kicker-they want us to proceed without vehicles. Underage, I guess." She shrugged.

Sam was appalled. "How are we supposed to get across? It's not like to ocean will split for us!"

Lyna laughed. "Funny story about that," she said.

Yumi looked at Gus, who nodded. The wizard held the Mare Staff above his head, and the ocean rose up like a plateau at his call. The demigoddess sent a blast of cold northern wind across the ocean, and after a few minutes, the ocean froze over, creating a solid bridge. Gus, Yumi, Odd, Ulrich and Sam descended onto the bridge of ice easily. "Why did the bridge have to be ice?" Lyna asked no one. Hesitantly, she climbed onto the bridge. Solid-ish was a more apt description by this point. "And the fire elf begins her less than graceful walk down the wintry catwalk..."

For a while, everything was fine, but soon, Lyna-who had taken a great interest in her toes-noticed a shadow underwater. Something wicked was coming that way. And it wasn't your everyday sea monster wicked.

No, this was no mutant crab, nor was it a giant squid. This was the-

"_Leviathan!_" Lyna shouted. The teens stopped, and turned. As if to illustrate her point, the legend itself leapt from the depths of the ocean, severing the bridge and sending a massive wave over the edge of the distant naval base. "Run! All you can do is run! We has no chance of killing this demon!"

The teens ran, but Ulrich watched the water as they did. The Leviathan was gaining on them. There was no way they'd all make it before the Leviathan struck again. If it jumped, Lyna would be dragged underwater.

Ulrich was a golem. He was alive and yet not alive. His trapped soul feared not death for he could not die. He ushered Lyna to run in front of him. Ulrich drew his katanas and ran after his friends, but stopped when he heard breaking water. The Leviathan was rising.

Ulrich stood his ground, and dug his katanas into the body of the Leviathan as it jumped over the bridge.

Yumi looked back instinctively to watch her best friend being pulled underwater.

* * *

It had been several hours since Aelita entered a critical state. Merlin had kept her stable while Michael used his connections at the hospital to receive medical supplies. Before the helicopter carrying Xanadu and Waldo arrived, Merlin had already given her a blood transfusion. She was also working on dispelling the Dark Shadows.

"My fault. My fault!" Aelita murmured as Waldo, Xanadu and Merlin lifted the girney into the helicopter. It upset Jeremy deeply to see Aelita in such a state. Her fever was persistent and dramatically high, and her energy was wasted on sleep talk and sudden violent outbursts caused by the nightmares. But he knew her father's face and the unforgiving look in his eye. Waldo blamed Jeremy. Wherever he took his daughter, the elf was not welcome.

This was only a temporary state, however. He would find her again.

As the helicopter flew off, he knew he would pace and twitch endlessly between the state of his beloved and the daunting task before his friends. So he walked, down the mountain, and away from imagined inevitability.

* * *

The underwater battle against the Leviathan was going, for lack of a better word, swimmingly. Ulrich had claimed several fins as his own and he was still going strong, for he did not need to breathe. Finally, Ulrich dug his katanas into the skull of the Leviathan. With all its dying energy, the mythical monster flailed and struck Ulrich's head three times.

The first time was his jaw. The second time was the back of his skull.

The third was his forehead.

It didn't happen like he thought it would. His body didn't collapse upon itself nor did he give off a great light. He felt the magic fade and suddenly it was over. His withering spirit saw the fabled light but even in death he knew not what it was.

He knew one thing for sure, however. His soul was free.

On the ice, his friends waited with bated breath. It wasn't until the moster's shadow disappeared that they realized Ulrich had passed on. Yumi was in hysterics. She couldn't think straight and couldn't see through her years. Her sobs and tremors grew worse when she realized there was not even a body to honor. "Yumi," Sam said, trying to be comforting as well as realistic, "we cannot mourn him forever. We must press on."

"And what would you know about mourning, Sam? Faeries can live for a long time, some even forever! What would you know of death?" Yumi snapped. She cried and cried, and the others let her. Finally, Gus conjured white flowers and a candle. Lyna lit the candle, and with a soft breath, Yumi sent the memorial adrift. They stood motionless for a long time, but then Odd put his paw on her shoulder and she looked at him. She nodded reluctantly, and the surviving members of Operation Titan headed towards the walls of the inner city. The smell of smoke was suffocating.

* * *

The city was in turmoil. Odd counted the corpses of at least a dozen humanoids lined the insides of the gates. Many peasants fought still, despite the starvation and fatigue written on their faces. He felt obligated to help them, but he knew that by completing their mission, the vampires these people were fighting would burn up. It would inevitably help them more.

The teens ran forward, jumping over corpses of peasants, vampires and other creatures. Occasionally, the teens were forced to kill the vampires who turned their attention to the teens. When they arrived at the castle gates, they learned that the peasants were trying to storm the castle as well. Gus pushed his way through the crowd and held up the Mare Staff, summoning the winds to push down the drawbridge. He stood aside while the peasants stormed ahead, and met up with his friends. "Gate's down. Better go now. They'll close it before long." He said, motioning towards the raised portcullis.

The teens nodded and started down the drawbridge. Not surprisingly, they were set upon by bats that transformed into vampires. They fought, and when Sam pushed her adversaries over the edge, she looked towards the castle to find the portcullis was falling. "The door!" She shouted. The others looked up, finished off their opponents and started for the castle.

* * *

Jeremy sat down on the side of the road, looking out over the trees. McPhee had sent the others, thinking that the elf boy would be with Aelita, but her father had taken her to an undisclosed location. Who knew what danger the others had gotten into without him there? Vampires were dangerous, and they were not alone there. They had thrills, and all sorts of underlings. He worried for his friends, and he panicked for Aelita.

He heard a car stop behind him. "Jeremy? Is that you, child?" A woman's voice asked.

Jeremy turned. It was Jessamine. "Oh, it's you." He had no idea what he was supposed to call his biological mother. Kya had been his mother for as long as he could remember. Jessamine was just the woman who gave birth to him.

"Why are you sitting on the side of the road?" She asked, confusion obvious in her voice.

"I don't know. Just thinking, I guess." Jeremy said, his thoughts far away.

Jessamine leaned over and pushed open the passenger side door. "Hey, how about you and me hang out and think together? Mother-son bonding, right?" She offered.

He turned to look at her. "I don't know. Are you allowed to do that?" He asked.

"There's a convenience store up the road. We'll stop there and I'll call your dad. I'm sure it'll be fine." She said.

Jeremy shrugged. He couldn't think of a reason not to, so he got into the car.

* * *

They weren't going to make it.

The sudden realization of that hit Sam like a ton of bricks. The portcullis would close and while Gus or Yumi tried to raise it, the vampires would pour hot lava or God knows what else on them. Lyna might survive, but one elf against a whole army? She didn't stand a chance.

Sam rushed forward, her body lighter due to her faerie bones. Her body started changing, and she started taking the form of a great oak tree. She stopped under the portcullis and sent up her branches, slowing the closing gate. But even once she was a great oak, the enchanted gate would not stop. But she had to stall it. Gus, Yumi and Lyna all entered the castle, and Odd came in last. "Sam, come on! We have to go!" Odd shouted, motioning for her to follow.

"I'm not going, Odd-stuff," Sam said, her body taking on more bark. Still, she felt her kbees begin to crack under the pressure. "I've planted my roots here to give me more support. I can't go anywhere,"

"Don't be stupid; we 're through the gate! We don't need the support!" Odd argued.

She laughed bitterly. "It's not that easy, kid," She looked at her sadly. He approached her, kissed her gently and backed away, looking at her face one last time before it dissolved into the trunk of an oak tree. Odd, Gus, Yumi and Lyna could only watch as the tree that had once been Samantha Knight cracked under the pressure of the portcullis.

* * *

A/N: I uploaded this from my iPhone, so it may have more mistakes than usual.


	34. Chapter 34

_Chapter Thirty-Four: The Onslaught, Part Two_

Two of Odd's best friends had died in one day. He was damn sure not going to lose another. So when Gus claimed that he heard a child's voice, he immediately agreed to investigate it. Unfortuneatly, that meant the girls were alone. But they were strong, he told himself, and they'd survive.

"You're very quiet, Odd. I wouldn't expect you to have such a somber attitude, even given our... circumstances." Gus said. "I expect... screaming. Lyna did a lot of that when Jeremy was dying."

Odd looked up at his friend. "Do you know what it's like? To lose someone you loved? Someone... you never got to say that you loved?" He asked.

Gus looked at him. "No," he admitted. "But I know of unrequited love." The two boys walked in silence. Then, the wizard turned towards an iron door. "There. Did you hear it?"

"No," Odd said.

"I don't sense anything. I believe it's safe." The wizard said. He pushed it open, revealing a set of stairs headed down. "I'll go first. Follow closely,"

* * *

Aelita tossed and turned in the hospital bed she was strapped down to. She was having horrible nightmares, each coming on fast and more frightening. There was darkness and a horrible monster with slimy skin and molting wings. Then there was a a vampire, not the immortal youth she'd seen but a corpse that smelled of copper and dead bodies. In her next nightmare, she saw Kya, covered in sweat and blood. Then she saw Odd forced back by something with immense power. She saw Jeremy with cold eyes, Ulrich in a yellow suit surrounded by corpses, and finally speckled blue eyes that shivered with evil but seemed somehow familiar.

She suddenly woke up and tried to sit up. Merlin, Xanadu and her father forced her down, horrified at her expression. It was a mix of terror, determination and exasperation. "No! No! He needs me! They all need me! They're all in danger!" Aelita shouted, struggling against her doctors and the leather straps. Merlin held her arm down while Xanadu injected a sedative into her vein. Ater a few minutes of struggling, Aelita gave into the drug.

* * *

Menelwen and Polaris meditated beneath Yggdrasil. Suddenly, Polaris opened his eyes and looked up at the World Tree. "She's dying," he said, pointing to a withering leaf. "She will not last the day."

The matron hung her head in silence. "There is no greater tragedy than the death of someone younger than yourself," She said quietly. "But to restore life to a human soul is a grave sun, my son, and we cannot interfere with the natural life cycle. It is the blackest of all dark magic." Her words shook as she spoke.

Polaris knew that. He reached for the leaf. Blood flowed from his nostril. "I will not bring her back from the dead, Mother," He said strongly, despite his vision blurring and his life slipping. "I will give her mine,"

Polaris fell back, dead, before Menelwen could even stand. The boy she called her son was so much stronger than she had thought. As one leaf grew lush with borrowed time, another fell.

Menelwen could not bring Polaris back. He was dead, his spirit gone from his earthly body. But other souls clinged to their corpses, and Menelwen used her magic to give them the strength to survive.

If only she had done so sooner. If only she had taken action. Then her son would be alive. Why had he done it? Polaris had never shown an interest in the lives of others. Perhaps he was teaching her the impact of her inaction, for if she would not act, someone would.

The matron summoned her strength and connected to the Forest.

* * *

He opened his eyes and felt like he was drowning.

* * *

Gus felt an immense power in what appeared to be the Catacombs. _Perhaps this power expelled the vampires?_ He thought as he searched the ceilings for hanging vampires. Then he heard it again. A child's laugh. "Did you hear it this time?" Gus asked his feline friend. Odd nodded. "It sounds... Familiar..." He said.

"Almost like... Aelita, but younger..." Odd agreed.

It did sound like Aelita, but what were the odds of finding the princess in a royal necropolis?

* * *

Yumi and Lyna were fighting as many vampires as they could, but they kept coming from every side and angle. "There are too many of them!" Yumi shouted.

"This is it, then," Lyna said calmly. "We're going to die."

"Not if I can help it,"

* * *

He felt chained by trust, but the details were foggy. _Where am I?_

* * *

Suddenly, the floor gave out. Gus and Odd fell into the strange and sudden hole in the ground. The light from the Mare Staff gave them a picture of what they landed on-a coffin built for a small child. "Good God," Gus exclaimed, immediately scrambling off the coffin.

Odd, after looking down, did the same. "Where are we?" He asked.

Gus looked around. "The inner sanctum, I guess. Or the lower sanctum. Hard to tell."

Without thinking, Odd wiped away the dust on the coffin. "Dude," he said, "We found Aelita's tomb."

Before the wizard could respond, a shadow darted over the coffin, laughing. _Open me_, it dared. Odd fearlessly threw open the lid to the coffin, sending bright lights out. Screams were heard, even underground.

"Vampires," Gus confirmed the cat's suspicions. "They scream in the sunlight, if they aren't immune to it. You killed all the ones outside, I suppose."

"Personally," Odd jokes, "I never liked the way they smelled."

* * *

The human with blue eyes had power. Strange power. He controlled him with that power, mocked his free will by means of dark magic. Suddenly, he remembers nothing, only that he obeys the blue eyed man.

* * *

When Odd and Gus joined Lyna and Yumi, they were greeted by a boy in a yellow suit. He turned and they saw Ulrich, not in clay but in flesh. "Ulrich! You're alive! Really, really alive!" Odd exclaimed.

Ulrich grunted. "And none the happier for it. You people and your damned problems keep ruining my afterlife." His words were harsh but his eyes were soft. He did not mean it.

Yumi told them with excitement about Ulrich's daring rescue, and his mastery of earthen magic and strange hexes. Ulrich explained his life before his death briefly, about his Wiccan mother and his wizard father. He gave no insight into his death, however. It didn't matter.

With hope in his voice, Odd asked, "Is Sam alive, too?" There was a horrible silence. He had his answer.

"I'm sorry, Odd." Yumi apologized. "Faeries represent part of nature. They are the soul of nature and are reborn immediately after they die." She hung her head. "Even her body is gone. All that is left now are dandelions."

He was upset even more now that she was gone and he could not even see her body. He steeled himself, and prepared to face the Vampire King. Ulrich lead them through the castle and opened the double iron doors to the throne room. It was a large room with furniture piled up as miniature blockades. "Good. We can use these." The former golem said. In the back of the room was a vampire. His hair was thin and wiry, his face smoothed and pointed like a vampire bat's. he wore impressive royal robes. They had found the Vampire King.

* * *

Major Richard Winston had failed. This Sun Amulet he had brought was imperfect, as it lost power over time. Now some fool had released Aelita's soul, and with it, her Kaliwanagan. The Amulet was gone. The dragons, with the help of that imbecile Miranda, were gone. The Leviathan was dead. So the Vampire King took action. He would no longer be a figurehead. Richard Winston was given a dishonorable discharge.

In this case, he was thrown out to the Sun's mercy.

The Vampire King put up his barrier. He knew this day would come, so he made this barrier with it in mind. Only a member of the royal family could approach him now, but they were cowards and politians. He was safe now, even as these poor, brave fools approached his throne. "You so-called Titans are too late. I am protected," he taunted, standing in his dark robes. He raised his arms and laughed, for he could strike them, but they could not strike him. "If you wish to kill me, summon your false king!"

After almost three hours, both Gus and Ulrich fell, exhausted of their magic. "It's not possible," Ulrich said. "He's untouchable!"

The demigoddess and the elf girl both tried to penetrate the barrier to no avail. Odd, in a rare moment of inspiration, remembered that Waldo was his uncle. "Cover me," He said before he ran out from cover toward the protective barrier.

"Odd!" Yumi shouted. "Oh... Dammit!"

The cat may have been part creature, but he knew he was still technically royalty. Odd ran for the misty barrier that quivered more and more as he grew closer. He summoned his claws and jumped, ripping the barrier. He was forced back by powerful magic.

Odd was unconscious, but Yumi and Lyna had energy to spare. Bullets and fire struck the Vampire King, and when he fell, Yumi used her fans to slice his head off.

* * *

A few hours later, Odd awoke on a helicopter. His friends were at his side, but their expressions had changed. He wiggled his fingers, if only to know he was alive. Then he knew. He was human again. Five fingers, five toes, no cat ears or tails. He had gotten what he'd always wanted. But it didn't feel like it should.

He was a human hero. But it meant nothing without Sam.

* * *

Aelita woke three days later because she could not breathe. She jumped out of bed and ran into the restroom, where she used a pair of scissors to cut herself out of her nightgown. She'd grown considerably since she'd been sedated, and she felt... staticky. Her long hair now stood up on end, and it curled around her face.

Suddenly, she fell to the floor in massive pain. She bit back screams as he back felt like it was being ripped open. When it was over, she heard the familiar rustling of feathers. She stood shakily. In her mirror, she saw her pink wings, translucent but nevertheless present. But that was not the striking feature.

Her eyes, now bright as stars, were cat-like. She was now whole. But at what cost?

* * *

A/N: I uploaded this from my iPhone again, so the mistake warning applies. Also, big Odd chapter, for all you neko-fans out there.


	35. Chapter 35

_Chapter Thirty-Five: Elementary_

The next few weeks were fairly uneventful. Waldo and Aelita were relocated to the castle in Carthage, Aelita, reluctantly, began her schooling in 'elegant' pursuits, though she preferred her magic and music lessons more. But she worried, for her friends had not contacted her. Yumi had sent her a text message after the Vampire King died, but no word had been sent since. She had tried contacting Jeremy, though she hadn't called after the second time he did not answer. She was, in her mind, 'that girl who calls twice'.

So instead of worrying, since her friends were smart and resourceful, she decided that she would focus on her duties as a princess. Though after two weeks of nothing but lessons on etiquette, dancing and judicial processes, Aelita was half ready to go insane.  
After about a month, Aelita started using her free time to read in the garden. The Vampire King might have been evil, but his choice of flowers was sublime. There were tall rosebushes, lavender and daffodils. A few days after she'd started, Lyna, Yumi, Odd, Gus and Ulrich visited.  
It was a joyous reunion. She was glad to see they'd survived, surprised to see Ulrich and Odd human (in the loosest sense of the word) and delighted they had come to visit her in Lyoko. She'd only wished that she'd known they were coming. She had not yet cut her hair, so it hung loose around her shoulder blades, and she hadn't warned them about her eyes. It came as a shock to them.

Before long, however, Aelita learned something that would change her life.

"Aelita... Have you seen Jeremy lately?" Lyna asked.

The princess was confused. "No," She said. "I tried to contact him a few weeks ago, but he didn't answer." She laughed nervously. "I called twice."

Lyna seemed disappointed. "Oh," she sighed. "I'd hoped he'd told you where he was going."

"I thought it was typical for him to disappear without telling anyone." Aelita questioned.

Lyna nodded. "It is," she agreed.

Yumi explained. "He's been gone for about five weeks with no word. He usually turns up by now." Her voice shook.

"We've tried contacting him, too. The only time anyone picked up was someone who was dumpster diving." Ulrich said, though his face was stone.

Aelita, suddenly, was very concerned.

* * *

She had learned in her magic classes how to summon items from far away. It didn't work with people, but Aelita had a good idea of something that would help. She closed her eyes and pictured a brown book. When it materialized in front of her, she grabbed it. Jeremy's past self had given this book to her with the warning not to open it until she was better. Well, now she was better.

The cover of the book started to glow faintly, and she waved her hand over it. The lock popped open, and Aelita started reading.  
Pictures fell out of the book, and the princess picked them up. They were all of low quality, and admittedly old, but Aelita recognized that messy mop of blond hair. These were pictures of Jeremy as a child. Yet, they were not like the others she had seen, but as if someone had gone through great lengths not to be spotted. She could not get a clear view of his eyes, and could not investigate these pictures from the past. She cursed the loophole. Inside the book, thicker than she remembered, were documents incriminating a man named Alvin Jefferson of dealing with the vampires, the Xanadu and a great many U.S Congressmen. On the last page, fancy handwriting gave coordinates and an address in a town in a northern state.

Aelita, smiling at her discovery and her future foresight, ran out to the stables were Avalon was searching for mice. "Avalon!" She shouted, showing the book to the dragon. "Avalon, I think this book will lead us to Jeremy." She said, pointing to the coordinates. "Can you fly us to this location? I can use my phone to show you where this is." She brought out her phone and plugged in the coordinates.

Avalon looked at the phone. "_Yes, I believe I can._"

Aelita prepared to go on a manhunt. She found a pair of scissors and asked a servant to cut her hair. She traded her royal gowns for a light green shirt, a light pink jacket, pink gloves without fingers, pink shorts, a pink half-skirt, green translucent tights and pink boots. She grabbed her backpack, and counted twenty dollars left in her wallet. The princess helped Avalon into her saddle, and then summoned her wings. She planned to fly herself halfway there, and then ride Avalon the rest of the way. The princess was going to find Jeremy.

* * *

The coordinates lead to a wooded area. Being unable to land in the wooded area, Aelita flew off the dragon while it shrank in size. The two landed and started searching the forest floor. Avalon suddenly smelled rotting flesh, and followed the stench. It saw a piece of blue fabric, and it called out, "Aelita!" It ran towards the fabric while the princess followed it.

Aelita followed Avalon to the corpse, but to her bittersweet revelation, it was not Jeremy. The corpse was an adult female elf lying on her stomach. Aelita flipped her over. "Jessamine," the princess breathed. Jeremy's biological mother had received a single bullet wound through her skull. Aelita didn't know much about forensics despite what she'd read in books, but when she looked at two wounds from the bullet, she could see that it most likely entered from the back and knocked her down. "Avalon, keep watch. I'm going to search her body for more information."

The dragon nodded, and it watched the area diligently. Aelita searched Jessamine's pockets, and her purse at her side. She found a note written in code, some makeup, car keys and a vial of purple liquid. The princess didn't need to open it to know what was inside. "Gancanagh poison," she hissed. Aelita tried to decipher the code, but she couldn't crack it without the codex. Whoever made the code, she thought, should be put in the military. She pocketed the note, poison and the keys. "Let's go. There may be more information in her car."

They walked out of the forest, but it took over an hour to find Jessamine's car. When they found the car, Aelita leaned on it for a few minutes before she unlocked it. She dug around in the glove box. She found a book with the codex written inside. After she cracked it, the note pointed to someone named Jay Clark. "Jay Clark?" She asked aloud. She looked to the dragon, but it was stumped as well. Reading further, the address was the same as the one in Aelita's book. "Jay Clark must be keeping Jeremy at this address! If not, then I'll bet someone there knows where he is!" She exclaimed, looking at Avalon with excitement in her eyes.

Aelita jumped out of the car and flipped to the address written in her book. She ran onto the sidewalk and looked around. She saw a young man wearing a backpack walking her way. "Oh. Um, excuse me!" She called out, running towards him. "You look like you know your way around. Can you possibly give me directions?" The princess pointed at the address.

He looked at it for a moment. "Yeah, that's downtown," he said, his accent thick. "You need to take th' trolley. It goes right near there, and th' middle school. It's across th' street from th' library." He pointed down the road. "Th' stop is that way."

"Thank you, sir!" She said, running off in the direction he'd pointed. He waved, but did a double take as Avalon ran by him.

* * *

Aelita waited patiently by the sign. She looked at the sign, and then saw a green-and-red trolley car drive up and park on the side of the road. When it opened the doors, the princess entered and pulled out her wallet. "How much for two?" She asked, motioning to the dragon.

The driver was shocked. "Ma'am, you can't bring that... lizard onto the bus!" He protested.

She looked to the dragon and back to the driver. "I'm sorry, but I thought this was the trolley?" She said.

"It is," the driver said. "But we cannot allow... dragons onto our vehicles. It might frighten our passengers."

Aelita looked to Avalon and opened her backpack. The dragon shrank and jumped inside, resting out of sight. She said simply, "Now they can't see it." She offered a dollar to the driver and sat down.

The trolley was fairly clean, and the people ignored her, mostly. About three stops later, Aelita stood and exited, and she admired the beautiful, futuristic design of the library. She turned to a woman who walked by, showed her the address and thanked her when she pointed to a two-story white house with a bay window. The princess let Avalon out of her backpack and started running towards the house.

She stood at the door and knocked. After a moment, the door opened, and Jeremy stood on the other side. Aelita barely noticed the bruises and marks on his body; she kissed him passionately.

Jeremy could say nothing.

"I'm so glad I found you! I'm so glad I gave you that book to give to me!" She laughed, and she entered the house. He was still silent. "This is a change, isn't it? Usually you're the one saving me! No one knew where you went! You gave us a good scare, you did." She sighed. "But that doesn't matter now. You're alive, and mostly unharmed."

Avalon, however, was not convinced. "_My lady, look in his eyes. Something is wrong._" It said.

"Nonsense," Aelita dismissed the dragon. She looked up at Jeremy. "I'm sure you can't wait to get home and see your family, huh? It's been weeks since you saw them. I'll bet Kya is as big as a watermelon!"

Jeremy suddenly realized she was talking to him. "Uh... Sure! I just have one question." He said.

"Anything!" Aelita said.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Aelita was startled, but Avalon wore an 'I told you so' look. "Jeremy!" The princess laughed nervously. "It's me! Aelita?" He shrugged. "Hello? We've known each other for a year-well, more than, if you want to be specific. I'm your girlfriend?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know you. I just... don't know."  
Aelita sighed and looked at Avalon. "Perhaps he sustained a head injury. I've read stories where people forget their whole lives."

"_It would've been a massive head injury. I doubt he would be walking if his amnesia erased his whole life._" Avalon questioned.

The princess sighed. "That's a totally different section of the brain, Avalon." She explained. "We'll have Michael take a look when we get back. Right now, we have to leave." She tried to pull him out the door.

Jeremy refused to move. "I'm sorry, Aelita. I can't leave with you." He apologized.

"Why? Are your captors still here?" She demanded. She walked into the house further and shouted, "Show yourselves, cowards! Or are you afraid to take on a little girl?"

Avalon tried to grab the princess's attention as Jeremy backed away from the door. "Hello, little one. My, how you've grown." A man said.  
Aelita turned. She was surprised to see this man. "Mister... Thompson?"

* * *

A/N: iPhone. For those of you who claim this came out of right field, I wholeheartedly disagree. At the end of Book One, _Live Free or Die_, Aelita says she moved in next door to a "creepy" man. In _Anno Domini_, we get the impression that Griffith Thompson is a strange person. In the early chapters of _By Valor and Arms_, we learned Griffith Thompson, Jeremy's master, is persistent. I know you could not have made these connections yourselves, but it certainly was not right field.


	36. Chapter 36

_Chapter Thirty-Six: Wrath_

Griffith Thompson smiled, sending a shiver down Aelita's spine, and causing Avalon to growl. His speckled blue eyes flashed to Jeremy, who flinched, and he ran his fingers through his greying brown hair. "I'm surprised you remember me. We didn't speak for all that long." He said, amused.

Aelita rolled her eyes. "That's because I find the way you flirted with my mother highly disturbing." She watched as he removed his jacket and handed it and his briefcase to Jeremy. "I'm here for Jeremy. I'm not leaving without him."

The man laughed. "And that, dear child, is where the problem lies." He said. He turned to the elf boy. "Prepare dinner. It looks like we may have a guest." Griffith watched the boy as he left the room, and could see the princess shook with anger.

She looked up at him, and the man could've sworn her face had twisted, showing something more primal. "Who are you to order him?" She demanded.

"His master , of course," Griffith smiled, but Aelita could see the humor slowly leaving his face. His master, though? Aelita had known Jeremy had been forced into slavery-Yumi had told her that-but if someone had told her that her boyfriend's master had once lived literally right next door, she would not have believed them. "What's the matter, Aelita? You seem dreadfully confused."

Oh, the sickly sweet tone of his voice made her want to throw up. "You're his master?" She questioned.

There was no sweet tone his voice now. "Do I stutter?"

"Oh, okay, I get it." Aelita said. "You're evil, and you enslaved him, and now you need to pay." She warned.

He seemed confused. "I need to... I need to pay?"

"Do I stutter?" She mocked him.

Griffith shook his head. "Now, you see, Aelita, there is a serious problem with that. I've already paid for him. Quite a bit, actually." He moved and motioned to the door. "So, I suggest you leave at once, because there is nothing else for you here."

Aelita felt strange, as if she wanted to leave, but she fought the feeling. "I already told you, I'm not leaving without Jeremy." She said.

"We'll, that means we've reached an impass." He said, walking over and sitting on the couch. "I will not give him up, and you will not leave without him."

Aelita pulled out her book. "This book lead me here, to your home. Inside is enough evidence to send you and your friend Alvin Jefferson to jail for the rest of your lives."

This clearly got under Thompson's skin. He stood and grabbed the book, but when Aelita refused to give it up, he kicked her stomach, sending her reeling back against the fireplace. "Where did you get this?" Griffith demanded. Avalon jumped and tried to bite him, but he struck the dragon with unbelievable force, knocking it down. "Where. Did. You. Get. This?"

In pain, Aelita could only manage, "Jeremy... gave it to me," She regretted her honesty immediately.

Griffith's face twisted with anger. He would deal with the elf later. "You are beginning to annoy me." He warned the princess.

She had to know. "Who is Alvin Jefferson?" She asked, trying to pull herself off the floor.

He grinned maliciously. "You don't think I was stupid enough to use my real name, do you?" He asked.

Aelita was shocked. "You... You're Alvin Jefferson?" She asked. "And... Jay Clark. That was you, too?"

"My, but you are a smart one." He said unenthusiastically. He tossed the book into the fire.

"No!" She shouted, and she waited for time to change. But it didn't. It remained the same, and she was confused. Was there another book, or more copies of the documents? She could still set this right! She stood, and she fixed her hair. "Griffith Thompson, as princess and heir to the throne of Lyoko, I hereby charge you with conspiracy against the throne and crimes against creatures everywhere. _Stand down_."

He laughed evilly. "You think you can come into my home and arrest me? You? You aren't even human."

"I am more human than you'll _ever_ be! You're a monster!" She accused. He laughed, and he turned. Aelita, now angrier than ever, summoned her powers and created two energy fields. She launched them at Griffith Thompson, and he turned ever so slightly to create a barrier. Needless to say, the princess was surprised for probably the twelfth time that day. "How is that possible?"

"What, my powers? You can thank your lovely mother for that." Griffith said. "She was so upset when you went missing, she was ready to do anything to get you back home safely." He mocked her, "And I just so happened to be there, with my connections. I have more than just the ones in that book."

She was horrified. "You used her! She was in pain and you used her!" She shouted.

"It was mutually beneficial."

"No," she disagreed. "I did not make it home safe, and you received the powers exclusive to my family. I say you received the better end of the bargain." He started to walk away again. "I have connections, too. I can have you arrested, shipped to Lyoko and executed. They'll believe me."

He looked at her, unafraid. "Then I suppose I'll have to secure your silence." He said. He suddenly grabbed her, and Avalon was on their tail. He opened a door, threw Aelita down the stairs while the dragon started growing in size as it chased her down. Griffith locked the door and placed a barrier on it. Then, he turned his attention to Jeremy.

* * *

Aelita and Avalon pounded against the door, as every attempt to magically break the door down or burn the door had backfire, forcing them against the wall or nearly burning themselves-or the princess, at least. It had been hours-at least thirteen, and Aelita finally gave up on the door. She turned and slid down the door, feeling beaten. "This is all my fault," Aelita said. "I should've known something was wrong. I should've known that!"

"_This not your fault,_" Avalon reassured her.

"Isn't it, though?" She sighed. "That-that monster is doing God-knows-what to poor Jeremy and I'm stuck down here virtually sitting on my hands!"

There was a silence. "_Then perhaps we should take action,_" the dragon offered.

Aelita looked at the dragon. She looked in her backpack for her phone, sending a text to her friends that she'd found Jeremy. She discovered other miscellaneous objects, most likely put into her backpack by her mentors, like yarn, knitting needles, some medicinal potions she was supposed to study and a law book. Then, she stood and started searching the room they were trapped in. It looked like a basement, at least a furnished one. The princess spotted two shelves, one with things presumably from Griffith's childhood and the other filled with books. On the first shelf, Aelita found a Louisville slugger, and after swinging it a couple of times, decided it would do damage if she was forced to attack. On the second shelf there were all sorts of books, but she recognized none of the titles. There was a book, unmarked, that resembled the book Thompson had thrown into the fire. She put this book in her backpack. Aelita also found a personal journal. She tried to read it, but could only get a few pages in before Thompson's thought process made her sick to her stomach. Michael and Kya would want to see this, she thought.

She pushed the furniture up against the wall and used the slugger to knock out the window. The princess picked up the dragon and helped it out the window. Aelita then tried to pull herself out the window as well. Six weeks ago, when her body was smaller, she would have fit through the window. Now, she couldn't get her head through the opening.  
Not to say they didn't try.

"It's hopeless. I'm not going to fit." Aelita said. She looked back to the door. "It's only Monday. Or... well, today is Tuesday, now. Griffith will go to work soon. I'm willing to bet the barrier will weaken after he leaves." She said. She climbed down from the furniture, and she waited.

* * *

Sure enough, a few hours later, Griffith left, and the barrier cracked. Aelita broke with the slugger, and then kicked the door until it, too, cracked. She then forced her weight on it, and it opened. "I can't believe that worked!" She said, pulling herself off the floor. She ran and opened the front door, and she called Avalon. The dragon ran inside. "Come on. We've got to find Jeremy!" The princess motioned for the dragon to follow her after using the yarn from her backpack to attach the slugger to her belt.

The house was much smaller than she had anticipated. The two quickly found the elf boy, though she almost wished that she hadn't.  
He was tied to a metal pole, and he was covered in new scars from whatever Thompson had done to him. She was sure that new bruises would form soon. "Jeremy! What happened? No, don't answer that." She fell at his side and tried to untie the knot in the rope.

"Aelita... You knew me from before... this?" He asked, as if it were painful to speak. She looked at him and nodded. "What did I do to deserve... this?"

It broke her heart to hear it. She pulled him closer to her, and comforted him. "You don't deserve this," Aelita said, "Believe me, Jeremy, you do not deserve this." She returned to the knot, and after several failed attempts, she looked at the elf and asked, "_God,_ these ropes are tight. Was Thompson in the navy?"

She looked at Avalon and motioned for it to use its claws on the rope. "How did you escape?" Jeremy asked.

"The barrier weakened when he left for work. We're leaving before this gets any worse, and you are coming with me!" She said, helping him up.

He wore a confused expression. "Today is Tuesday. He doesn't work today." He said.

Aelita was confused now. "Then where did he go?" She asked.

"To the police station, down the road. He had to pay a parking ticket." He said. "He'll be back before long."

She looked up and the ceiling. "Fuck a duck." She cursed. She grabbed Jeremy's arm and started pulling him out the door. "Then we have to leave before he gets back."

And, of course, he walked through the door before they could leave.

"I'm not sure how you got out, princess," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "But this time, I'll be sure that you don't escape again."

"Are you sure about that, Thompson? I'm a bit of an escape artist." Aelita taunted.

Griffith laughed humorlessly. "You won't leave this place. Not now, not ever." He dictated.

She smiled. "We'll see about that, won't we?" She asked rhetorically.

The man struck first, but Aelita put up a shield. She was forced back, almost falling down the stairs back into the basement. Aelita looked at Avalon, who grew in size and crunched down on Griffith's leg. He yelped and kicked. "Stand down, dragon!" He shouted, and unsurprisingly, let go. Griffith looked up to find that Aelita had run, dragging Jeremy with her.

He turned, and he sent and energy field at Aelita. Jeremy, who had been watching his master, put himself in the path of the energy field. He was knocked backwards, and the princess caught him. She gently placed the elf boy on the floor, and tried to wake him up. When she couldn't, she was filled with anger and hatred. She stood, summoning her energy fields, but they changed from the pink they had been to black as night, like Griffith's. Avalon watched in horror as the fields transformed into black lightning, spiraling up Aelita's arms. "_No! Stop!_" It shouted.

But Aelita was too angry to listen to the dragon. She looked up, and the black energy had found its way into her eyes. The whites of her eyes were black, and her canine teeth were sharp. She launched the lightning at Griffith, breaking his shield and catapulting him through the wall. He landed in the basement, his chest smoking from the strike. Aelita took the Louisville slugger from her belt and started towards the basement. Avalon ran towards her and bit her half-skirt, trying to tell her to stop. The princess yanked the skirt away, ripping it.

She walked down the stairs, slugger in hand. Griffith was trying to pull himself off the floor. Aelita sped toward him with the slugger over her head, and she brought it down with all her might onto his skull. Her strength bolstered by her rage, his head pounded on the carpeted cement floor.

Despite what she would've thought, it felt good to hit him. So she hit him again. And it felt even better. Aelita kept hitting him, over and over, until her arms felt like they would fall off. By then, the slugger was coated in blood and Griffith's skull had opened up to bleed on the floor. The black energy had left her eyes, and she'd regained control of her mind. She looked at the corpse in front of her and she felt...

Nothing. Aelita felt nothing about this dead man, except relief that he could no longer hurt Jeremy.

"Jeremy!" She shouted, dropping the slugger and running up the stairs. Aelita slid on her knees to his side, opening her backpack and taking out the potions. How convinient, she noted bitterly as she opened the vials. She smelled them-there were four in all-and the fourth made her nose curl. "Yeah. It's definitely this one," She said as she picked him up and poured the contents of the vial down his throat. She looked at her phone and saw Lyna had sent her a reply saying they were on their way with McPhee. She could only wait.

* * *

A/N: We see a definite change in Aelita here.


	37. Chapter 37

_Chapter Thirty-Seven: the Monster Inside Me_

"Yes... yes, Jeremy. Open your eyes. Just follow the sound of my voice." Jeremy opened his eyes slowly. Aelita, her face splattered with blood, smiled. "Yes, there you go. No-no, don't sit up. You'll only hurt yourself." He tried to force himself past her hand, but he was too weak. "Don't worry about your injuries. Your sister and our friends will be here soon. You'll get well soon enough, I promise."

"What happened?" He asked, for he remembered only immense pain. He didn't recall being fired at.

Aelita didn't get a chance to tell him. He lost consciousness again. Moments later, Lyna charged the door, and she fell to her knees! "B.B!" She shouted, and she looked at Aelita. "What happened to him?" She asked.

The princess gave her Griffith's journal. "He was recaptured by Griffith Thompson, his master."

Lyna looked to the journal and then up to Aelita. "Good God, Aelita, is that blood on your face?" She asked.

Aelita rubbed her face. "Yes, it would seem it is." She said as Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Gus, McPhee and Madeline entered the house.

Madeline recoiled at the sight of the blood on the princess's face. McPhee asked the same question as Lyna and recieved the same answer. "Aelita, you said this Thompson fellow kidnapped Jeremy?" Lyna asked. Aelita nodded.

Yumi looked at the ceiling. "Aelita, please tell me that is not Thompson's blood on your face," She said.

Aelita could not say that. She looked down at Jeremy and cradled him closer to her. "Madeline, search for the body." McPhee ordered. She wrinkled her nose but obeyed faithfully. "Lyna, give me the journal. Aelita, I want you to tell me exactly what happened."

She spared him no detail. She told him of her unique abilities, so he knew how she had acquired the journal in the first place, of her discovery of Jessamine's body, and of Jeremy's treatment at Griffith's hands. She then explained her earlier actions. "Oh, Lord Almighty, Aelita!" Gus exclaimed. "You murdered someone!"

She looked at him accusingly. "You all have killed people!"

"This is different. We kill creatures in the interest of protecting the population. You murdered a man in anger!" Ulrich explained.

"He wasn't a man," Aelita muttered angrily. "He was a monster."

"I agree!" Lyna said loudly. "Aelita's actions were justified!"

McPhee slowly got on eye level with Aelita. "I need to know one thing, Princess. Who attacked first?" He asked. "Think carefully before you answer."

She thought. "Griffith." She said. "Griffith attacked first."

Madeline came back with digital photos and a vial of blood. She gave the evidence to McPhee, who recoiled the photos. "Madeline, begin paperwork on Aelita's diplomatic immunity. Make sure they get stamped and marked for yesterday. Or the day before, even better."

"Sir, I've done a lot of horrible things in my time with the government, but now you expect forgery?" She asked. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I just... can't."

"Don't think of it as forgery, Miss Fortescue, but as serving your country!"

"Forgive me, Sir, if I don't see how keeping a murderer from prison serves my country!" She glared at Aelita. "Princess, when all of this is over-the reconstruction, the coronation, this-this Opera thing that Jeremy talks about in his diary-you know you're going to prison, don't you?"

Aelita looked up at Madeline. "Griffith Thompson had a heart as cold and black as the magic he used! His death was justified!"

"Your word may be law in Lyoko, but here, you're a vigilante!" Madeline shouted. "A man died at your hands! His life is over, thanks to you!" Her face was so different than the docile Madeline Aelita knew. In Madeline's brown eyes, Aelita's transgression became real. She had murdered Griffith Thompson.

"I understand." Aelita said.

McPhee studied his assistant's face. "Very well. Then begin the blood work. This journal suggests he has a long history of multiple profiles." Madeline did not relax, but she seemed more comfortable. She glared at Aelita before turning and leaving the house.

Odd put his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Don't listen to her. You did good, cousin." He said reassuringly.

But the princess was confused. "What happened to me? How could this happen?" She asked when Avalon approached. Lyna picked up her brother and carried him to the van. "I remember when I preached mercy. Laurelei-Morgan-had done so much worse to me, and I spared her. I knew Jeremy would survive, and I... broke anyway."

Avalon explained, "_You are now not completely human. The fraction of creature blood you have is volatile and easily corruptible. It is not truly evil, but dark, yes. It is best compared to-_"

Aelita interrupted it. "A demon," She said.

She couldn't recognize the emotion that followed the dragon's response. "_Yes._"

* * *

The next day could not come soon enough. Michael and Kya arrived at the castle and were escorted immediately to Jeremy's room in the infirmary. Yumi, Gus, Ulrich and Odd sat outside. They stood when they saw the elves coming. Yumi was nice enough to open the door. Jeremy was lying unconscious on the gurney. Lyna sat next to him, apparently praying, Aelita sat looking out the window, her clothes still bloodstained, and McPhee stood motionless. "Mister and Missus Belpois. I am pleased you made it, albeit unfortunate circumstances." McPhee said when the elves entered.

Michael and McPhee spoke while Kya ran to Jeremy's side. She looked like she was going to cry, but she didn't. "Where was he?" Michael asked.

"New Hampshire. He was being held captive by a man named Griffith Thompson." McPhee said. "He had multiple identities, however. My assistant is running blood work on him now."

On cue, Madeline entered the room sheepishly. She handed first McPhee a stack of papers, and then Aelita. "What is this?" Aelita asked.

"Your proof of diplomatic immunity." Madeline looked at her feet. "Aelita, I owe you an apology."

Lyna scoffed. "You think, bitch?"

"You were right, Madeline. I'm a monster. I should be locked up." Aelita said.

"No, you have... no idea how many families you've brought justice and closure to. Not just his. Not just mine," Madeline said. She took a deep breath in as McPhee read the name on the packet of papers.

"Thomas Alexander Fletcher," He read. "That sounds familiar."

"It should," Madeline said. She asked Aelita and Lyna to leave. When they had, she addressed the remaining adults. "Thomas Alexander Fletcher was a man in Ohio how was convicted of two counts of child molestation and pornography about twenty years ago." Her voice quivered. "One of them was my sister. In court, he claimed the Unseelie Faeries told him that... raping a child was okay. They locked him up in an asylum." She looked up. "The government says he died there, but his DNA kept appearing in molested children across the country."

Michael seemed confused, but Kya was horrified. "Please tell me that didn't happen to my poor baby," She whispered.

"We aren't sure yet. We haven't yet conducted any tests." Madeline admitted. But she added quietly, "But Jeremy fits the profile. Blond hair, blue eyes, from a close family," She gathered her strength to say, "We need your permission to perform a thorough investigation."

* * *

Jeremy awoke in the middle of the night. He saw an elf girl curled up at the end of the bed, covered by a red jacket. An elf man slept soundly in the chair next to the window. "Jeremy?" A woman asked. He turned to see an elf woman sitting next to him. "Oh, my poor baby! I was so worried! I thought I'd never see those blue eyes again!" She said, hugging him tightly. What was with all the touching?

"I'm so sorry, ma'am, but I don't who you are," He admitted.

The woman sighed. "Aelita said as much." She smiled. "She told me what you did for her though. You were very brave." She offered her hand. "My name is Kya. I'm your mother. Your stepmother, actually. But you've never called me anything but Mom since before your father and I married."

She reached into her purse and pulled out a plastic container of homemade cookies. "Your father told me not to pack these. He said that you had to get back on a 'regular diet'. I told him that a few cookies wouldn't kill you." She explained, and she opened the container. Jeremy greedily ate the cookies, and Kya laughed. "I love you, Jeremy. You don't have to say it back. Just know that I still love you, and I always will. No matter what, do you hear me?"

He nodded. "I hear you," He said.

Kya stood. She struggled a little because of her pregnancy. She sat on the edge of the bed, waking Lyna. She waved her daughter over, and she hugged her children.

Then, she sang a lullaby.

* * *

Aelita stormed through the castle. She and Waldo had gotten into a terrible argument. Over Jeremy. Again. He didn't want to help him. She insisted that it was her fault to begin with and they were obligated to help. Oh, the argument had gotten heated. Aelita loved her father, of course. But she was angry with him. Angry for her childhood. Angry for her heritage. Angry for his coldness.

She didn't understand how cold he could be. She loved Jeremy, even though he couldn't remember her. Why couldn't he accept that? Why couldn't he respect that?

She steamed, and paced through the halls. She tried to control her inner demon. How could he not tell her that she had a demon side, that it was demon blood that had caused this mess? She opened a door to find Xana sitting inside, lighting a candle at the side of a picture frame. She gasped. "No, Aelita, do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. It was never my intention to hurt you." Xana said, and he waved her over.

Aelita had seen Xana before. Once in person, the other times in photos and interviews. But he just looked... tired now. He resembled her father, obviously, but his eyes were green and cat-like, just like hers. He had other features, too, like sharp canine teeth and nails. The picture was one of him and Laurelei. "Why are you here?" She asked, sitting next to him.

"I was called here by my father, Xanadu. I will probably be awaiting trial." Xana said, his voice flat. Did he no longer care if he lived or died? "I decided that I would light a candle for my daughter... your sister."

"Why?" Aelita asked.

"Haven't you heard?" Xana asked. "Laurelei is dead. She sacrificed herself bring back my father, so you would live."

Aelita was floored. "Laurelei, faerie of sin and defiler of men, did that for me?" She exclaimed.

"She was your sister, too, Aelita, and she loved you. I love you," Xana admitted. "And by God I did some horrible things because of Franz but never once did I believe you were still alive." He sighed. "I never thought that my actions would nearly kill you."

"If I hadn't been sick your actions would not of hurt me," Aelita said.

"Your mother and Franz are to blame for your illness." Xana agreed. "We all knew of your creature blood, Aelita. No one cared but your mother, Franz and Eternus."

"Why did no one tell me it was demon blood?"

"It's not demon blood. It's... Demon-esque."

"Close enough,"

"It didn't make a difference to us. Demons lived among us, just like angels."

Aelita looked at Laurelei's picture. Was she evil, or misguided? Was she the source of everything wrong in Aelita's life, or was that Griffith Thompson?

Or was it Franz Hopper?

* * *

Jack watched a half hour later as Aelita and Waldo argued again, this time over demons and the Opera. He kept to the shadows outside the castle, breathing slowly. When Aelita stormed off again, Jack opened the window. "Time's up, Waldo. I've found you," He said. Waldo didn't flinch. Jack took a dagger from his knapsack and sliced open Waldo's throat. Aelita entered again, this time with a picture. She looked like she was going to say something, but dropped the picture instead. "Hello, princess. Fancy meeting you here."

Aelita clenched her fists in anger. She tried to get a hold on her anger, tried to keep her demon instincts in check. "I will have your head," Aelita said, her voice low and echoed by something evil. Her eyes were taking on that black hue.

Jack laughed. "This man is but the first of many. Our failed leader Xana dies next. But first, the 'Human' Princess of Creatures." He mocked her.

Jack struck first, slicing with daggers faster than light. He sliced her twice in non-fatal areas. Aelita summoned the black lightning, and while it did not kill Jack, it knocked the daggers from his hands. Aelita grabbed one and sliced his throat, almost cutting off his head. She first looked at Jack, and then to Waldo, and finally to herself in the mirror.

Her hair stood on end when she saw herself. Her eyes black, her teeth sharp like a vampire's and her hands soaked in blood. Her eyes faded back to white, and she stood there staring at herself. How could she have changed so fast?

She dropped the dagger, and she ran over to her father. She put her hand on the gash, but nothing happened except warm blood spilling over her fingers. Waldo had died. How many times had she wished him dead? How many times had she wished anyone else had been her father? Now he was dead, and she had gotten her wish.

She'd never loved him more than in that moment. "Daddy! Daddy! No, you can't be dead!" She shouted, and she fell to her knees, crying. She sat there for ten minutes, and then ran out, informing the guards that she'd killed an assassin and there may be more lurking about.

When she found Xana, he was hanging from the rafters. He'd killed three assassins, but they'd overwhelmed him.

* * *

A/N: I'm not going to try to make light of this. This chapter is filled with lots of things that are hard to swallow, and that are not funny. I'd like to begin by saying that if you've found yourself in a similar situation as Jeremy, do NOT feel like you're alone. There are people who want to help, if you'll let them.

Also, I'll be putting out a chapter in '_Anno Domini_' called '_the Master_' soon, and it gives you more insight on Griffith Thompson, aka Tommy Fletcher.


	38. Chapter 38

_Chapter Thirty-Eight: the Monster Game_

"Human scum all like to play. They play the monster everyday.  
Touch the child, push her down. Then parade her to the town.  
Lock her in a room real tight. Listen to her scream all night.  
Burning iron or stinging whip. Mercy is the thing they skip.  
Phone a friend, fake a smile. They put our corpses in a pile.  
They will tell us that we're slaves. We will send them to their graves.  
They don't know who they offend. The monster game will never end."

* * *

Aelita tried to control her anger, and while her rage quieted, her shame grew. Two people dead by her hands in two days. She remembered the spider in Morgan's cage. She couldn't even kill the insect, and now she'd ended the lives of Griffith Thompson and Jack. Griffith had hurt Jeremy, changed him and subjugated him, and Jack had murdered her father. In the days to come, Aelita would have trouble sleeping with their lives over her head.

She managed to knock out another assassin without losing control. She searched his body and found badly written plans to destroy the monarchy. They'd already killed King Franz and Xana; next on the list was Xanadu. Her grandfather? She remembered him. He'd been there when she'd awakened, and then left after a discussion with her father.

Aelita knew she had to find him. She hoped it wasn't too late.

* * *

Xanadu was a doctor, not a killer. He was a calm, rational man. He didn't care that he was not human and had no true magic. He wanted only to help people. He calmed his demon-temper in two ways-he meditated, and he exercised. These things kept him calm.

So when he was set upon by assassins while trying to go to the castle, his calm, rational response was to run like hell. It was by pure coincidence that he ran into a female Passage Knight who quickly cut them down. "You have my sincere thanks." Xanadu said. "I am no spring chicken, as you can see."

She laughed. "I don't know. You have a spring left in your step, I think. You sure know how to hustle, at least." She wore golden armor, though it seemed mismatched. A scavenger in old bases may have sold her the armor. Either way, she had a slight blue glow to her. She removed her helmet, revealing a mess of red hair. "My name is Suzette Powers. I'm looking for my daughter Miranda."

"I'm sorry, Miss Powers. I do not know a Miranda." Xanadu apologized.

"It's okay," Suzette said. "I'm going to talk to Aelita. She must know where my daughter is."

"Perhaps we should go together? I'm headed that way, and it would seem that someone has it out for me."

* * *

The castle reeked of death. Aelita had found Odd, Ulrich, Gus and Yumi, and despite her friends having sent three more assassins to their deaths, Aelita had not lost control. "We need to find Xanadu!" Aelita ordered. "He's their next target!"

"No need, my dear, no need!" Her grandfather shouted as he hobbled into the castle. Aelita ran to his side as a woman put him down. "Ah... thank you, Miss Powers." He sighed.

The woman smiled at Aelita. "Remember me, princess?" She asked.

Aelita looked at her. "...Suzy?" She asked. The red haired woman laughed, and hugged the princess. "You look so good! An adult, but still good!" She said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Marumi Village!"

Suzy nodded. "I was. My daughter, Miranda, was playing in the mountains before Lyoko and Earth combined. She was with the dragons, and I've been looking for her ever since." She explained. "Have you seen her? She looks just like me, except she's got Jason's nose." She asked.

Aelita looked down. "No. I'm sorry. I haven't exactly been looking for people who look like you, Suzy." She apologized.

"But the Marumi Tower connected right to our town!" Suzy said.

"The Tower collapsed. I was near New York when it happened." She explained. "I had some... issues with a witch." She would not reveal that weakness.

Suzy looked at her feet sadly. "Oh. I see,"

Aelita tried to comfort her friend. Then, Xanadu stood. "You and I are their targets. We should find a safe house, and take a few guards." He said. "We'll let the royal guards handle this fine mess."

"And what a fine job the royal guards did in protecting my father!" Aelita spat. "We should fire the whole lot and just have my friends patrol the castle!" How was it that every person that was hired to protect her and her family suddenly became totally incompetent?

"What do you mean?"

"My father and Xana are dead! These assassins killed them!" Aelita shouted. She then fell to her knees, unable to contain her grief. She held her eyes in her hands and started crying. "They're dead and I could not save them," She sobbed.

They gathered around her, and she rubbed her eyes. "We have too much to do for me to sit here, bawling." Aelita stood.

Yumi looked up. "We have to decide what to do!" She said.

"I want all of you to find the remaining assassins. Eliminate them, in the name of the King." Xanadu said. "Aelita, Suzy and I will go to the safe house."

"What?" Aelita recoiled. "No! I don't want to go to a safe house! What if they get hurt?"

Gus tried to convince her. "We know the risks, Aelita. It's worth it."

She refused to be swayed. "When people put their lives on the line for me, they die! Too many good people have died in my name, Gus. I'll be damned if you die when I can save you." She said adamantly. She looked at Xanadu. "You and Odd are the only family I have left. I think that you should go to the safe house with Suzy, since there's no way in Hell that Odd will agree to hide when there is fun to be had."

Odd nodded. "You're damn right!"

"You only recently became well, Aelita. You're still at risk for negative effects." Xanadu argued. "Not to mention... other effects that come from the cure."

"You mean the completion?" She asked. "It's true that I am having... issues dealing with the demon part." She looked her grandfather in the eyes. "But it only happens when I'm enraged. The others can keep me calm."

"I did pick up a calming spell from the grimoires in the library." Ulrich said.

"I'm afraid it isn't so simple." Xanadu said. "In this volatile emotional state, you could easily flip between emotions."

"I don't care! I'm going!" Aelita spun around.

She was her father's daughter. There was no stopping her now. As the others followed her, Xanadu shouted after Odd. When great nephew turned, he threw something to him. "You'll know when to use this!" He advised.

* * *

Lyna caught up with the others in the east wing. "I got your messages. What's the trouble?" She asked.

Yumi explained. "Assassins are after Aelita and Xanadu. They've already killed Xana and Waldo!"

"What?" Lyna recoiled. "Aelita, I'm so sorry!"

"There's no time!" Aelita waved her off.

"She's right! Did you see any strange people on your way?" Ulrich asked.

"No. Well, I don't know. Some of the servants seem shifty." She mused.

"We don't have time to interrogate every servant that walks with shoulders held too high! We need to act!" Gus said.

Suddenly, Odd drew his sword and plunged it into a dark-robed man's chest. The man fell, and Odd stomped on his neck. "Not much of an assassin, are we? You couldn't sneak up on Helen Keller." He taunted.

"Good job, Odd!" Ulrich said as they gathered around the dying assassin. "Maybe our new friend can enlighten us." He suggested. "Tell us, assassin, what are your intentions? What would have happened had this plan of yours succeeded?"

He wheezed. "It can still work. My part was minor. We may not find Xanadu. We may not kill you, Princess. But we can break you. We listened to the fighting, and we know your weakness." He laughed, and he finally died.

They knew what he meant. They all knew. "Michael and Kya won't let any harm come to him." Yumi said firmly.

"No, they wouldn't. But he's in the courtyard with McPhee, trying to regain his memory through training." Lyna said. "They're near the lake."

"The trees offer cover from the cliffs, but even the rose bushes won't cover view from the castle." Odd pointed out.

Aelita turned to the window. "If they're going to attack Jeremy, then we must get to the courtyard as quickly as we can." She said pointing to the window. "I'll get us down one at a time. Here, help me open this window."

Gus helped Aelita open the window. One at a time, the princess flew down her friends.

* * *

"Concentrate! Concentrate! No, no, no." McPhee coached as Jeremy tried to control the water. Jeremy had been trying for hours, but he couldn't remember his hydrokinesics*. "God Almighty, Jeremy! Are you even trying?" He demanded.

"Yes! I am trying!" The elf boy shouted. He managed to pull up a bubble, but it popped. He grabbed his hair and screamed. "Why is this so difficult?" He asked.

"Water is everywhere. It is apparently difficult to focus on specific molecules." McPhee explained. Jeremy glared at him. "You asked!" He defended.

Jeremy tried to create a stream again. He remembered, only briefly, a beach house and the ocean. The stream during that moment obeyed his every command. But then the memory was gone, thee stream collapsed and Jeremy was angrier than before.

"You had it there for a moment, boy! Try that again!" McPhee encouraged.

Jeremy turned to him. "I'm never going to understand it! I don't know what to do! Why won't you all just leave me be?" He shouted. He turned to storm off, and almost walked right into a dagger. Jeremy looked at McPhee, who was surrounded by dark-robed creatures.

"If you know what is good for you, you will put your hands up." The woman in front of him ordered. The woman was of African origin, and her hair was greying. Jeremy held his hands up. "They say you have lost your memory. Then you won't feel betrayed when I kill you." She laughed.

Fire sent the woman into a nearby tree. Jeremy backed away. The assassins surrounding McPhee were suddenly locked in combat with a group of magical humanoids, an elf girl and Aelita. Jeremy helped McPhee to his feet. The African-American wizard conjured ropes to hold the assassins. The elf girl-Jeremy suddenly remembered her as Lyna, the girl Kya called his sister-ran up to him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

They were sent into the lake by a burst of magical energy. "Not for long!" The woman who had threatened Jeremy shouted.

The wizard who conjured the ropes looked at her. "...Mother?" He asked.

"August?" She asked. She offered her hand to him. "Join me, my son. We will conquer Lyoko in the Winters' name." She said. Gus drew his wand and sent energy bursts at his mother. His mother returned fire.

"Jaycee Winters, stop!" Yumi shouted, and she and Odd charged her. Ulrich and Gus kept casting. Aelita helped Lyna, McPhee and Jeremy out of the lake. "Stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

Jaycee cast a mass paralysis spell. "You don't know what you fight for! You fight for tyranny! You fight for ignorance! You fight to give dictators permission to subjugate us!" Jaycee went over to Gus. "And you; my own son! You should know better than to fight for monsters!"

"Mother, you are the monster!" Gus spat dispite the spell.

She shook her head. "You know nothing. My own son!" She walked over to the elves. "Seeing as I have you here, Princess, I should just kill you now. But I think I'll stick to the back-up plan and break you first." She held the dagger to Jeremy's neck.

Aelita's eyes grew dark. She seemed to fight the feeling, but wrath can be stronger than willpower. Her demon self took control, and swiftly broke the spell. Faster than light, Aelita's clawed fingers were wrapped around Jaycee's neck. "_N_o _o_n_e_ w_i_l_l_ t_o_u_c_h _h_i_m_ e_v_e_r_ a_g_a_i_n," Her voiced echoed with something evil.

"Aelita! Aelita, stop!" Odd shouted.

"_Y_o_u_r _l_i_f_e _e_n_d_s _h_e_r_e, _J_a_y_c_e_e _W_i_n_t_e_r_s_." Aelita declared, pushing her back with considerable strength into a tree. The tree collapsed. Jaycee tried to stand, but Aelita forced her down. She grabbed the dagger and sliced open Jaycee's throat. She pulled out the insides before setting her sights on the other assassins.

The paralysis spell wore off, and her friends stood in front of her. "Aelita, you have to calm down." Ulrich said.

"O_u_t _o_f _m_y_ w_a_y_!" She pushed past him. "E_v_e_r_y _o_n_e_ o_f_ t_h_e_m_ w_i_l_l_ d_i_e_ f_o_r_ t_h_e_s_e _a_c_t_s _o_f _t_e_r_r_o_r_i_s_m_!"

Odd opened the fabric Xanadu gave him, expecting a drug or some enchanted dust. He found something better.

A chocolate bar.

"Aelita, eat a Snickers!**" Odd said, handing her the chocolate bar.

She snatched it away. "_W_h_y_?" She demanded.

"Because you turn into a demon when you're hungry." He explained. She but into it angrily, leaving fang marks. "Better?" He asked.

Aelita looked around, her demon eyes searching the faces of those who surrounded her. When she caught the terrified look on Jeremy's face, she felt her shame even deeper. Her anger faded, and she gave the candy bar back to her cousin. "Better,"

She walked over to Jeremy, who recoiled. "Stay away from me, demon!" He shouted, and he ran.

Aelita tried to run after him. "No, don't! You'll only make it worse!" Lyna exclaimed as she chased after her brother. Her tone had not been cruel, but the words were sharper than Jaycee's dagger.

Gus grabbed the princess' shoulder. "Gus, I killed your mother! Your mother! How can you ever forgive me?" She asked.

He laughed. "My mother," he reminded her, "was a bitch on wheels." She laughed half-heartedly.

* * *

*This is an inaccurate representation of amnesia. Typically, amnesia does cause you to forget a skill, though amnesia involving skills and amnesia in a romantic sense never coexist. You either forget a skill or you forget memories, typically around the time of the injury. I will explain Jeremy's amnesia in the next chapter.

**I was paid nothing for this advertisement. Hell, I don't even eat Snickers.


	39. Chapter 39

_Chapter Thirty-Nine: the Doctors and the Sign_

Michael studied the scans and x-rays. Jeremy showed obvious signs of brain damage, but elves healed quickly in this area, or found ways to work around it. Besides, none of his injuries seemed to affect the hippocampus, the part of the brain that dealt with memories. There was no scientific way to explain his sudden, vast and long-lasting amnesia.

His amnesia itself was a marvel. Amnesia involving memory loss, or amnesia in general, was short-lived and self-healing. This had been difficult to explain to Aelita in particular, whose days with novels had convinced her that his memory could be restored through constant reminders of his past. Michael couldn't explain this. And it was beginning to anger him.

Kya handed him a cup of coffee. "Any luck?" She asked. He shook his head in frustration. "Honey?" She asked.

"No. No honey," He muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "Not your coffee, you goob." She said. The elf woman pulled a chair up and slowly sat down. "We have things to talk about." She said. Michael put the coffee cup and the scans down. "We need to give Madeline an answer. About... the rape kit." She explained.

"The answer is no." Michael said adamantly.

Kya seemed offended. "Why are you being so pigheaded about this?" She asked angrily. "Our son was held captive for five weeks by a convicted child molester! What if he was raped? What if this man had diseases?" She asked.

"Kya, I'm not discussing this further!" Michael declared. "Jeremy is fine! He wasn't... molested!" He shouted.

"Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't! Don't you want to be safe?" Kya asked. When Michael said nothing, she sighed. "Michael. Michael, look at me. This needs to be done."

* * *

Aelita sat with Xanadu in the rose garden. They meditated, as Aelita was trying to control her anger. She felt the weight of three souls on her shoulders. How had she fallen so hard? "Sir! Sir, we've returned!" A voice called. Xanadu and Aelita looked up. A goblin with a furry tail waddled towards them, carrying a large box. "This is everything we found!" He handed Xanadu the box.

"Ah. Thank you." Xanadu thanked the goblin. Xanadu opened the box. Inside were hundreds of VCR tapes and DVDs. He seemed confused. "How strange. I expected diaries or photographs." Xanadu said.

Aelita picked up one of the tapes. "Are these... dates? Written on the front?" She asked, showing it to her grandfather. He nodded. "What are these?" She asked.

"Evidence to be used in your defense, should you ever be arrested for Thompson's murder. You shouldn't be, but if so..." He explained. "We have his journal and pictures, but that... isn't enough."

Aelita looked at the tape. "This is from... twenty years ago, I think." She dug through the pile and pulled more. "Three years. One year. Oh, this DVD is from last week."

Xanadu looked his granddaughter in the eyes. "Aelita, it is your duty to know what is on these tapes. But if you don't feel comfortable about what these tapes may be, I will not force you." He said somberly.

She thought for a while. "I need to see what Griffith recorded." She said.

* * *

Jeremy stormed up to his sister and held up his laptop in her face. "Lyna, how many times have I told you not to play your stupid little games on my laptop?" He asked. "It infects my laptop with little viruses and malware that give it the blue screen of death! Do you know what I have to do then? Pray. You know God doesn't like me! All the shit I've been into-you know God doesn't like me! He sees my face on the caller I.D and says, 'oh, it's that punk ass Jeremy. Better let it go to voicemail!'"

"I use your computer to play my games because my computer doesn't work!" She argued. "Besides, I didn't think you'd care since you'd lost... your... memory." She stared into his eyes, and they were blazing with that fire, as deep as that ocean. In that moment, he was her brother again.

"I won't lose memory! I will lose data!" Jeremy shouted. "That's what spyware does! It gets into your system and steals files, sending them to the source of the the spyware! How many times have I told you this? Stop using my laptop! How did you get into it in the first place? No, don't answer that." He shook his head and walked away. That fire he'd had in his eyes was gone. He looked down at his laptop. "Oh, that's a pretty shade of blue." He walked away, no longer angry. Lyna had never wanted him to shout at her more.

* * *

Aelita stopped the DVD. She was mortified. "What did I just watch?" She demanded.

Merlin answered first. "If I didn't know better, I'd say gay porn." She said.

The princess glared at her. "I can't believe that people do that!" She exclaimed, holding her head in her hand.

Xanadu looked at Aelita strangely. "What do you mean you can't believe people do that? Where do you think you came from? How do you think your father recieved the Kaliwanagan?" He asked. Aelita stared at him with big green eyes. "Oh, child, we need to have a talk. I should've known your parents hadn't." He took a deep breath. "You see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, they partake in a spiritualistic dance." Xanadu stood and thrust his pelvis back and forth.

Watching her grandfather perform pelvis thrusts repeatedly probably scarred Aelita for life. "I'm glad they didn't! That looked horrible!" She shouted.

"Actually, it can really be a lot of fun when you're doing it right! And when it's consensual, of course." Merlin mused. Xanadu glared at her. She realized her mistake and added, "But you should wait until you get married!"

Aelita looked at her, annoyed. "Why? It's obvious you didn't." She looked at Xanadu. "So... Jeremy did that... with Griffith Thompson? The big old guy I killed?" She clarified.

"And I gather he did that with Laurelei," Xanadu added. "Your parents also-"

"Stop right there!" She held up her hands. "Leave their memories in peace, please!"

"As you wish, but you need to learn this. And seeing as how you seem to believe this is how it always is, we should start with the difference between sex and rape." Xanadu said.

Aelita's eyes couldn't get wider without her eyes bugging out. "You mean... rape... isn't when someone pokes you in the belly button for five seconds?" She asked timidly. Xanadu shook his head. She looked from her grandfather to the white witch. "My life is a lie!"

* * *

Xanadu entered the room with Jeremy and his parents. "Good evening," He greeted, and he asked Michael for the scans and x-rays. "It is as I feared. This stems from the Kaliwanagan." He said. "See this? It's a barrier. It seems to be deteriorating. Your son is very strong. Most elves cannot do that."

"What do you mean?" Kya asked.

"I mean that elves react strangely to subjugation." Xanadu said. "Most cannot defy their masters, even those who cannot magically chain them." Xanadu held his chin. "It has been the subject of many studies conducted by my organization."

Michael was horrified. "You enslaved people for science?" He asked.

Xanadu was offended. "No,"

"What does the barrier mean for my son?" Kya asked.

"With this level of deterioration? We may expect to see him back to normal in about six months." Xanadu said.

"Six months?!" The elves shouted together.

"Six months unless Jeremy agrees to let Aelita destroy the barrier herself." Xanadu said, looking at the elf boy. His parents looked at him too. "How about it, Jeremy?"

He knew that his parents wanted him to say yes. A part of him wanted to say yes. He remembered her kiss, her gentle hands. Then he remembered the blood on her face, on her now clawed fingers. Her demon eyes. "No. No!" He shouted. "She's a monster! Keep her away from me!"

"She loves you, Jeremy. She's just... a different person." Kya tried to reason with him.

"No! You and Michael love me! She's a demon!" Jeremy argued.

Michael and Kya looked at each other. "Can she destroy the barrier without his consent?" Michael asked sadly. Jeremy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Perhaps. It will be more difficult." Xanadu admitted.

"Destroy it."

* * *

Aelita shook her head. "I don't know how to destroy the barrier," Aelita said. "I can barely control my energy fields without going into a demon rage." She argued. "I don't think I have the patience to go into his mind anymore."

Xanadu put his hand on her shoulder. "You must try. This is for his own good." He reassured her. It wasn't reassuring. "He'll thank you later." He added.

She sighed and followed him into the room. Jeremy wore an angry face as Kya tried to calm him. Michael was tightening the straps on his arm while Lyna held it down. When the love of her life saw her, his angry expression turned to fear. He started thrashing, and Aelita saw herself when she had awakened on her own gurney. She hated his fear. She hated herself for giving it to him. "No! No! Stay away from me! Don't touch me!" He screamed, and he tried to run. Lyna tried harder to keep him still.

Merlin motioned for her to begin. "Whenever you're ready, Princess Aelita." She said. Aelita nodded, and she approached the bedside. He struggled more, and he pulled away from her.

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" He shouted. Aelita gathered her courage and placed her thumbs and index fingers on his temple. She closed her eyes and dove into his mind, searching for his memories. But to go that deep, she had to go through the frontal lobe. She felt his fear as if it were her own. She pulled away.

"I can't do it!" She exclaimed, backing away. "I won't do it! This isn't right!" Aelita pressed her hand to her forehead.

"Do you think putting the barrier there was the right thing?" Merlin shouted.

"If I've learned anything over these past few days, it is that forcing someone to do something they don't want to do is wrong, and two wrongs do not make a right!" She cried for her mother and her father. She cried for her victims. She cried for Jeremy. She simply cried. Aelita ran out of the room.

* * *

Aelita sat in the crypt, next to her father's body before it was prepared for the tomb. "Being a monarch means doing things that are not right, doesn't it?" She asked. "I never wanted royal blood. I never wanted to be a princess, and certainly not a queen. But everyone expects that from me.

"I guess I'm saying that I don't know what I'm doing. God, what I wouldn't do for things to go back to the way they were. I... never should have altered time. It was better the way it was, even if that meant Jeremy didn't love me. He doesn't love me now. He fears me. But I can't change that now.

"I miss you, Daddy. And Mommy too. I am... so sorry. I am so, so sorry! Sorry is such an inadequate word!" Aelita cried. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Gus stood behind her. "Oh. Gus. Hello,"

Gus sat next to her. "How are you holding up?"

She shook her head. "Not so good, I fear." She laughed.

"Lyna told me what happened."

"Is she mad?"

"Livid." Gus said pointedly. "She misses the old Jeremy. We all do."

"And I don't?" Aelita snapped. "He didn't want the barrier destroyed by me. He is afraid of me. I... couldn't hurt him that way." She sighed. "I have to learn to control my emotions."

"More people should." Gus admitted. There was a silence. "If it means anything to you, Aelita, I think you did the right thing. But that's just me."

* * *

Aelita had a servant, an elemental faerie named Hattie, help her out of her bloodied clothes and into a pale blue dress and dark purple fingerless gloves. Aelita tied a dark blue cape to her shoulders with golden clasps. Before stepping out into the castle, she slipped into purple shoes. It was nighttime, finally. The bodies of assassins burned in the courtyard, dispite the thunderstorm. The smell of burning flesh carried, though she suspected it would've been worse without the rain.. She tried to steel herself from it.

She wandered through the halls of the castle and found the room she had music lessons in. She sat down at the piano her father had sent for from Hermitage. She turned the pages of the sheet music until she found 'O Fortuna' by Carl Orff. Aelita began playing,

It began slowly, but picked up soon after. Aelita soon picked up the piece, and while she was not finished mourning, she felt her spirits rise slightly.

Until she saw a shadow cover her sheet music. Aelita spun around and saw a figure leave through the window. Aelita ran over to it, and she saw the figure fly off. It left only a feather behind. She considered flying after it, but she simply closed the window. She sat down, and she began again. Someone sat next to her, but she ignored him. "You play beautifully." Jeremy complimented.

"Does it not frighten you?" She asked, continuing to play.

Jeremy laughed. "Why would it bother me?" He asked, and he put music in front of her. "This is from one of Yumi's favorite movies. It's the piano duet from 'the Corpse Bride.'" He said.

"I think she had me watch that movie, once, in West Virginia." Aelita remembered. She began, and Jeremy echoed in a higher key. "Are you trying to tell me that you remember watching it, too?" In response, Jeremy played the more uplifting part, and the music entised the princess to play as well. They played the duet together, and Aelita smiled brighter than she had in days. "I didn't know you could play the piano," She teased.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," He said.

"I know more than I used to."

Jeremy smiled. Aelita took his hand, and she led him to the window. "Rainy days make me think of you," Jeremy said, pulling her close to him. "I miss you," He whispered into her hair.

"And I you," Aelita admitted with her eyes closed. When she opened them, he was gone. She had always known it was a dream.

* * *

Lyna was in the library reading anything she could find on amnesia, particurally Jeremy's type of amnesia, which she had dubbed 'magical amnesia.' She was getting frustrated, since the only person who could do something would not. Oh, she wanted to hurt Aelita. But she kept her shaking hands in her lap as the princess entered. "Is... this a bad time?" Aelita asked. "I can come back later."

"Oh no, please. It is your library after all." Lyna said, her voice shaking. Aelita entered cautiously, and searched for creature indexes. "You are so selfish. You know that, don't you?" Lyna asked.

The words hurt. "I come to that conclusion occasionally," Aelita said sadly, pulling a book off the shelf. "I want him back, too, Lyna. But not that way. Not something that will frighten him."

"Do you think he'll be scared after?" Lyna asked, standing, leaving ash footprints on the stone floors. "God! I don't understand you!" She pulled at her hair.

"It isn't what he wants!" Aelita shouted back. She walked closer to the elf girl.

"He doesn't know what he wants!" Lyna screamed. The elf girl closed the distance between them.

"He has amnesia!" Aelita reminded her friend. Or, she hoped Lyna was still her friend. "He isn't a child or mentally ill or a vegetable!" She pleaded.

"He's my brother! I know he'd want you to do it!" Lyna shouted. Aelita opened her mouth, but Lyna threatened to slap her. The princess flinched, and Lyna lowered her hand, ashamed.

"Excuse me," Aelita said, pushing past Lyna with her book pressed to her chest. She fled through the door to the library. She walked by Jeremy on the way, and they both stopped in their tracks. Jeremy took a step back, and Aelita sighed. She looked down at the floor, because it was oh-so interesting, and then looked up into Jeremy's dark blue eyes. Then she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

Jeremy was confused. Confused about Aelita's true nature, and the level of control she had over it. He'd seen her as a girl when she'd first arrived on his master's doorstep, as an angel when she'd saved him and a demon in the courtyard. Who was she? Which face was real?

He entered the library, like his sister had instructed. They sat down together, and she slapped the back of her head. "You're an idiot," She said, and she looked down to the book. "We just want what's best for you."

"How often I hear that, and yet how often I find that it isn't true." Jeremy said, and his sister shook her head. They sat together in silence. The barrier cracked again, and Jeremy looked at his sister. "Is this the royal castle in Carthrage?" He asked.

"Yes, it is. We liberated it from the vampires about five weeks ago now." Lyna said.

The elf boy stood. "What about Aelita?" He asked. "Is she safe?"

"Oh, she's fine! Discovered a bit of a bloodlust, but fine!" She spat.

"Where is she? I have to see her!" Jeremy said, grabbing his sister's shoulder. "Everything that has happened recently... it feels like I've been dreaming. I've got to tell her that I love her-"

Lyna spoke up before he could finish. "Yeah, you'll love her until her junk starts bleeding and she literally turns into a demon!" She snapped, looking up at Jeremy. She saw the look in his eyes. "Oh my God. What do you remember?" She asked.

"I remember being with Jessamine, and..." His eyes started to cloud. "...and betrayal. And I remember..." He shook his head. When he looked up, that look was gone. "I'm so sorry, but it seems I've forgotten your name."

* * *

Lyna took her experiences to Xanadu. "The barrier must be weaker than ever. He remembered his biological mother, and he mentioned a betrayal. Aelita mentioned both of those things-a dead Jessamine with a bullet wound in her skull." She said. "If Thompson had the Kaliwanagan-I don't know how-then he must not have known how to use it."

"I am uncertain. Jeremy seems to fight the barrier, but it holds firm." Xanadu said. "These brief memories he experiences could be the barrier weakening due to his personal strength, or simply him forcing himself to remember. Either way, my prognosis remains the same. Six months."

She walked closer. "What if the barrier is weak, however? What if he remembers enough not to fear Aelita and she can use that to destroy it?" She asked.

"These memories only occur for several seconds. She'd never have enough time to complete the destruction of the barrier." Xanadu said.

"Just enough to remind him that he loves and trusts her would be enough, though, wouldn't it?" Lyna asked. Before Xanadu could answer, a shadow swooped outside, filling the room with darkness. "What in the world was that?"

Xanadu held his head out the window. He found a feather, and he recognized it. "Oh, God. Karolyna. Karolyna, go find Jeremy. Go. Go! Hide him, hurry!" He said, pushing her out the door.

"What's going on?" Lyna asked.

"The Opera is starting! We can't let that happen! Not like this!" Xanadu shouted while running down the corridor.

Lyna found Jeremy and dragged him to a room with no windows. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't know. Xanadu said to hide you." Lyna said.

Xanadu arrived, and he brought Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd and Gus with him. "Listen to me, children." He began. He explained the history of the Opera, and compared it to the gladiators of Ancient Rome. He explained why they were hiding. Lyna grabbed Jeremy's arm, and pushed him into the corner, blocking him with her body. They stood there for fifteen minutes before slow footsteps sounded in the hallway. "We're too late," Xanadu whispered.

The door opened, and an angel stood in the doorway. He was six foot six, and his wings were as white as snow. "Summer nears its end, and the halfblood's spawn will soon take the throne. But her days marked by blood and rebellion will start by cries and mourning and moans." The angel spoke. He ducked and walked into the room. He was not at all angelic, not like those benevolent creatures in paintings. He was bald, and intimidating, and his heavy silver armor shone like stars. "The boy who awakened me will taste his own blood. From his family, tears will come like a flood."

"Leave this place, Eternus! The boy remembers nothing!" Xanadu pleaded.

"His memory concerns me not, for bloodshed he's not forgot." Eternus Rotti said. The teens attacked when he walked closer, though he pushed them aside, unscathed. He stared at Lyna, who drew her tomahawks and prevented the angel from approaching any closer. Eternus stepped closer, and Lyna struck. He drew a sword and stabbed her in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood.

"Lyna!" Gus shouted.

Eternus lifted the elf boy off the floor by the collar of his shirt. "Our Opera begins here and now, between you and me. Who will survive? Well, we shall see."

* * *

A/N: Ah, fuck. Who invited Eternus? Was it you? Did you invite Eternus?

Anyway, even though this chapter had humor in it, don't expect the next chapter to have any. But, hell, I break promises. It might be funny.


	40. Chapter 40

_Chapter Forty: the Opera_

Lyna awoke in the infirmary, surrounded by her friends and her parents. "Oh, please tell me that was a dream," she said as she sat up, and she felt her stomach hurt. She fell back onto the gurney. "For once, why can't the answer to that question be 'yes'?" She looked to the crowd. "Where is Jeremy?"

"Merlin is working on it," Yumi said. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"How do you think I feel?" Lyna asked.

Merlin ran inside, and she carried a piece of paper. "I've found him!" Merlin said, and she pointed to a point she'd circled on a map. "There is a formation south of here, in the Desert Sector of Lyoko. If we hurry, we can reach him before the Opera begins!" She exclaimed.

Kya helped Lyna dress, and then the group was out the door.

* * *

Eternus threw Jeremy into a room with a barred door. "You must prepare. I will not fight one who is not in proper armor." The angel did not bother to rhyme.

Jeremy was awfully confused. He looked around, but saw no armor. He saw a mirror, and he stared at his reflection. He looked horrible. He had bruises on his face and neck, not to mention on other parts of his body. His blond hair was messy, and he looked down at his feet. He had no idea what was going on, and he had the overwhelming fear that he was going to die.

The elf boy pressed his head against the wall. "I believe you are looking for this." A woman said from behind him. He turned. A woman with long brown hair and a dress made of leaves stood behind him, and she carried white armor with gold trim. "It has been stored at Yggdrasil. I polished it for you." The woman said.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"My name is Menelwen. I am here to help you." She said. The woman approached him. "Poor child. You cannot remember your own greatness, can you?" She asked.

"No, ma'am." He shook his head.

Menelwen smiled. "I wish I could have helped my son. But he would want you to live. We all want you to live." She moved to the side, and Jeremy came face-to-face with a version of himself.

"Who is that?" Jeremy asked.

"That is your memory." Menelwen said.

Jeremy looked from himself to Menelwen, and then back. "We'll, there you are! Everyone looking for your dumb ass." Jeremy said, and he approached the apparition.

"Are you ready to be complete, my child?" Menelwen asked. "You will remember everything. These past few weeks, and the time before that. Your life has not been easy."

Jeremy thought. "I... don't know. Everyone wants me to be complete. I'm not sure if that's the best thing, though." Jeremy looked himself in the eyes. A voice came from a door he hasn't seen, and Menelwen vanished.

Michael opened the door. "I found him!" He shouted. Kya, Lyna and the others ran inside, crowding him. Their voices came at once, and there was touching. So much touching! He didn't see Aelita, however. "We've been told what's going on. We aren't allowed to help you. Just... try not to die." Michael said. Very reassuring.

"Same strategy we've been using since day one," Ulrich said.

They stayed for a few minutes, and then guards escorted them out. When they were gone, he could see Aelita standing outside. She smiled weakly, and waved at him. She mouthed something at him. He read her lips.

'Je t'adore.' I love you.

This demon loved him? Or was she really a demon? If she was, what did that make him? She walked away, and the door closed. Menelwen reappeared. "Have you made your decision?" She asked.

He thought for a moment. "Yes," Jeremy said. "I want to remember." The apparition approached Jeremy. Then, he walked inside of him. Memories flooded him like water, and he fell back, knocking the mirror off the wall. He grabbed it before it hit the floor. He remembered everything. Jeremy stood, and he looked Menelwen in her eyes. "Thank you, Menelwen." He thanked her.

"Do not thank me. It was not a kindness that I did you." She hung her head. She helped Jeremy into his white armor, and offered him two more gifts-a canteen of water, and a long sword with a mithril blade. "Be safe, child. Do not let his appearance fool you. Great evil awaits you." Menelwen walked towards the sunlight provided by the bars. Closing her eyes, her body turned grey, and a sudden burst of wind caused her to burst out into cinders.

Jeremy watched her float away. He looked at his armored feet. Then, he walked toward the barred gate. The bars raised, and Jeremy walked out into the arena.

It was built of the desert sand, apparently. Closing his eyes, Jeremy knew that the air was too dry to pull water from. He would have to use the canteen sparingly. The arena was full of people. He saw a box, and Aelita sat inside, looking shamed. Next to her was Xanadu and Avalon. He saw his parents, and Lyna, who held her stomach. His friends sat with them, as well as McPhee. He saw many other people, many he did not recognize. Most were creatures.

It suddenly felt real. The Opera. The ghosts following him stood at the bases of the walls. He saw Thorn. She looked sad.

Sitting on one of the towers was Eternus Rotti. He was like a gargoyle, frightening. But nothing Jeremy felt he could not handle. Eternus swooped down from the tower, landing in front of Jeremy in the arena. He looked up at Aelita and then down at Jeremy. "Are you prepared?" He asked.

"As I'll ever be." The elf boy said. He looked up at Aelita and his friends and family. He smiled at them, and Aelita's face lit up. The elf and the angel drew their swords, and so did the Opera begin.

Eternus Rotti was a formidable opponent from the start. He was more experienced in the Opera than Jeremy, and had killed thousands of people before facing Jeremy. But to the Champion's surprise, Jeremy held his own.

Likewise, Jeremy was also surprised. He was sure that Eternus would play dirty, and was glad when his training in the Xanadu's arenas had paid off.

It was like watching two people dance. One jabbed while the other blocked, and vice versa. After studying Jeremy's movements, however, Eternus quickly learned his weaknesses. He had an almost unnoticeable limp on his left leg, and blind spots where his glasses gave no vision. Eternus struck the elf boy in his blind spot with his wing, sending him into the sand. The crowd gasped, and Aelita grew frantic. Jeremy pulled himself out of the sand, and spotted the mithril sword. He watched Eternus as he approached, and he opened the canteen. Jeremy froze over the angel's eyes.

When Eternus took two steps back, Jeremy ran and grabbed the sword. He ran forward and sliced at the angel's left wing. Eternus roared, and he tried flying up. He crashed into the ground.

Jeremy had put all his energy into the charge, and leaned against the wall. He was running on pure adrenaline when Eternus charged him. Jeremy felt himself slipping as he blocked the blow. Then, Eternus felt lightning strike his back.

The entire crowd looked to the source. Aelita stood on the wall, her fingers smoking. She summoned her wings and flew to Jeremy's side. "Do not interfere!" Eternus hissed as the princess retracted her wings.

"I'm just a little girl! What could I possibly do?" Aelita asked.

"Aelita, get back in the stands!" Jeremy whispered.

She refused. "Not on your life," She said. "I got you into this, and I'll get you out." She held his cheek. Eternus ended the moment by nearly severing her arm. The two teens ran in opposite directions, and Aelita ripped up her skirt, tying it into a rope. She whipped it at Eternus's feet, and pulled.

The angel fell to the sand. He kicked, sending Aelita into the wall. She was stunned, but stood. Jeremy snuck up from behind the angel and jumped onto his back. The angel struggled to shake him. The elf boy sliced at his neck and chest. Aelita prepared energy fields. "Jeremy! Jump!" She ordered, and he did so. She fired them, and Eternus was forced into the wall.

They ran and embraced. "Go! Quickly! Get the heart!" Aelita said.

"Oh! Right!" Jeremy ran and opened Eternus's chest. He removed the heart, with some difficulty of course. Then, sheathing his blade, he offered Aelita the heart of the Opera's Champion. "I guess this is supposed to make up for the one I stole," he shrugged.

She smirked. "I guess so." She said, taking the heart. They kissed, and the crowd cheered.

Suddenly, it went silent. "Behind you!" Odd shouted.

Jeremy turned, and Aelita moved so she could see. Eternus's corpse stood. "You believe yourself superior, don't you?" A demon voice asked. "I am a Champion! You are a cheater! I will be victorious!" He grabbed a woman from the audience using telepathy, and with a flash of light, he used her life energy to transform.

The corpse changed. The wings lost their feathers, and the face twisted, changing into an evil half-smile. He grew four arms additional arms, and his wings became bat-like. A dragon's tail with a blade at the end grew, and so did a turtle's shell. The face slowly lost its skin, and the eyeballs fell out, allowing blood to roll down his cheeks. The fingers on the six hands grew sharp claws, and lost muscles and skin. This creature, this monster in Eternus's place, roared.

"I am Hakor!" The monster roared, slapping Jeremy and Aelita into the wall. "You are weak before my might! I will destroy you!"

Jeremy and Aelita pulled themselves up. "Why can't things ever be easy?" Jeremy asked.

"Because nobody wants to read a boring story," Aelita said. "Although a fucking monster was not on my list of things to get whooped by today, I'll admit." She helped Jeremy reach his sword.

Hakor was now at least twice his original size, and he was more powerful than ever. Those insolent whelps would pay. Hakor needed no heart. He was cold, powerful and emotionless.

Aelita summoned her wings again, and she fired energy fields at Hakor. It looked up at her. Dispite his size, he was swift with his arms. He was not so swift on his feet, however. Jeremy dug his mithril sword into Hakor's knee.

Hakor roared and kicked, sending Jeremy into the audience. "Oh, this is bullshit," Lyna cursed, standing up. Michael and Kya forced her to sit. "They'll be killed!" She argued.

"And you're injured!" McPhee pointed out. He looked at the other members of Operation Titan. "The rest of you, on the other hand-get your asses out there!" He ordered.

Yumi, Ulrich and Odd jumped into the arena. Gus started to, but then looked back at Lyna. "In case I don't make it back, I've always found you incredibly attractive!" He shouted, pulling the elf girl close and kissing her. He jumped over the wall while Lyna sat there, face red and lips smiling.

Ulrich started twisting the sand under Hakor's feet while Yumi used her telekinesis to throw rocks, as well as throwing her fans to try to wear away at the shell. Odd started climbing Hakor's tail, and then cut off the bladed tip. Then, he, too, tried to open the shell. Gus was casting spells from afar, sending out healing spells and shields when appropriate.

Jeremy picked himself up, and he looked at his friends fighting. Aelita landed next to him. "Are you alright?" She asked, helping him regain stability. "That was quite a kick!"

"No kidding," Jeremy said. They jumped as Ulrich was sent flying their way. They caught him.

The golem-turned-wizard stood up. "Aelita," He murmured, "I think we could use a demon rage here,"

Aelita stared at him. "They don't come on demand, Ulrich! They happen when I'm angry! Being angry is... frightening to me! I lose myself, and I tried really hard to get a hold of myself!" She shouted. Hakor slapped them against a wall again.

"I don't think anyone will blame you for getting angry," Ulrich groaned as he pulled himself up. Aelita looked at Jeremy. The elf boy shrugged. He ran, grabbed his sword and ran towards the monster. Aelita was left with her thoughts.

Jeremy sized up Hakor, and then shouted for Yumi to give him a boost. Yumi used her aerokinetic powers to send him up. The elf boy dug the mithril sword into one of Hakor's empty eye sockets. The monster roared, and suddenly started flailing. Odd, who was still trying to open the shell, held on for dear life while Hakor struggled to knock the elf out of his eye socket. When the flailing stopped, Odd again tried to open up the shell. Aelita landed on Hakor's back. "Quickly! We have to get the shell off!" She ordered, her eyes black.

"Are you in control?" Odd asked, amazed. She clawed his face.

"Mostly," was her apology. The cousins started to work at destroying the shell, Odd with his sword and Aelita's strength increased with her demon rage. "Odd! Over here!" Aelita shouted when she managed to make the scales loose. They pulled on it, and Hakor screeched, and tried to grab them. They managed to pull it out.

Releasing a dragon with black and blue scales and many scaly plates on its head and body. The wings were large and menacing, and the head was small and serpentine, with compound yellow eyes. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me." Odd cursed.

Avalon saw the dragon from the audience. "_Babylon,_" it hissed, growing in size and flying up to face the dragon. "_You have some nerve coming here, Babylon, Dragon that Devoured the Sun._"

"_You are mistaken if you think that you will defeat me again, Avalon, Dragon that Shadows Fear._" Babylon hissed. When the two dragon struck each other, the sunny skies turned grey, and every strike lit the sky with lightning. The audience was torn between two epic fights-a dragon cat fight in the sky and a monster fighting teenagers in the arena below.

Ulrich and Gus combined their magic and conjured a thick rope, and they tangled Hakor's legs, and when they pulled, Hakor fell and landed on the ground. He struggled to pick himself up. "Jeremy, quickly! Kill him! It has to be you!" Ulrich shouted.

Jeremy grabbed his mithril sword and charged, stopping only when Avalon and Babylon crash-landed in front of him. When the dragons flew up again, he rubbed the sand from his eyes and charged the monster.

The elf boy jumped into the hole, and he searched for the monster's weakness. He opened a hole in Hakor's back, and he jumped inside. Jeremy was surprised by the distinct lack of blood, and he found the woman he'd stolen energy from. She had fiery red hair, and wore the uniform of the school Anthea had taught at. He noted that she looked like Suzy.

Jeremy cut the muscles that connected the girl to Hakor. He felt and heard the monster roar, and he stumbled back from the shock. He continued to cut at the veins and nerves until the girl was free.

Hakor flailed, and the monster started to warp back into Eternus Rotti. Jeremy pulled the girl from the corpse and threw her up. Odd and Aelita caught her. Jeremy pulled himself out, and they watched as the monster warped back into his original form.

They waited for thirty seconds before Eternus's corpse jumped, and then fell. He was dead. Not ten seconds later was Babylon lying in the sand, dead. Avalon stood slowly, and walked to Aelita's side.

The crowd was silent, unable to comprehend the situation. Lyna was the first to cheer, jumping up, applauding madly dispite the pain in her stomach. Xanadu and McPhee stood as applauded as well, followed by Michael and Kya. Soon, the whole crowd stood and cheered, applauding the heroes in the arena. The teens grabbed hands and held them over their heads.

The Opera had finally ended.

* * *

"I want the scale we pulled from Hakor's back made into a shield and presented to the Belpois family as a token of my esteem." Aelita said to her steward while Hattie helped her dress for her coronation. "I also want a group of taxidermists to collect the corpse of Babylon. That was a kick-ass looking dragon, and I want it displayed in the throne room." She instructed.

"Of course, Your Highness." The steward wrote on his parchment. "Anything else?"

She thought. "Yes. See to it that Suzette Powers, Passage Knight of Marumi Village, is put in charge of security here in the castle, and contact some plumbers to install pluming, especially in some of the larger cities. The health standard is disgustingly low." Aelita added.

"It certainly is, Your Majesty." Her steward agreed.

"Oh, how would you know?" She teased him. "You've lived here your whole life!"

Her steward was stunned. "Quite right, Your Highness." She smiled and rolled her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a pale green dress with elaborate sleeves, and a pink vest with a lighter pink design. "Are you ready for your coronation?" Her steward asked.

"I'm ready," Aelita sighed. "I don't know if anyone else is, however," She smiled. She looked to her steward. "What do I have to do?"

"Just look beautiful. The Chairiman of the Council will perform the ceremony, and then you will address the crowds outside." Her steward explained.

A few hours later, Aelita stepped out into the sun for the first time as Lyoko's Human Queen. The crowds cheered, and she gave them a royal wave. Xanadu stood next to her. "They're waiting for you. Are you nervous?" Xanadu asked.

"A little. But I know what's right." She said. She walked to the edge of the balcony, and she raised her hand. The cheering stopped. She was nervous about what to say, and she took a deep breath. "Greetings, loyal citizens of Lyoko! For thousands of years, you lived subjugated by the Vampire King! Over the past few months, we have been targeted by assassins and monsters! But now, we walk into a new day! And that day dawns in this moment!

"But it doesn't start with me," She admitted, and a gasp went through the crowd. "I am young and impulsive. I will not be a good queen, not yet." She removed the golden crown from her head. She called Xanadu closer. "I give the crown to my grandfather, the wise Xanadu, until such a time where I am mature enough to take the throne and take the role seriously." She asked her grandfather to kneel, and placed the crown on his head.

"All hail King Xanadu!" Aelita shouted, and the new King stood. The crowd echoed her.

Xanadu looked at her nervously. "Are you sure you can do this?" He asked.

Aelita shrugged. "No," She admitted. "But who is going to stop me?" She asked.

* * *

There was a party after the coronation. Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich and Gus were all in suits of various colors-Jeremy in black, Odd in purple, Ulrich in grey and Gus in white white a red shirt. Lyna wore a beaded red dress, her hair curled, Yumi in a short black dress and Aelita still in her dress from the coronation.

"So, are the two of you married now?" Lyna teased Jeremy and Aelita.

Aelita smiled. "I don't think so. Jeremy's victory in the Opera just paved the way for marriage." She thought for a moment. "I think."

Jeremy shrugged. "I don't really think it matters. We have a few years before even Lyoko thinks we're ready for marriage." He pointed out.

Odd smiled. "Even so, who wants to bet Einstein and Princess here are the first of us to get married?" He asked. They burst out into cries of agreement. "I admire what you decided, Aelita. If I'd been offered the throne, I would not have given it up." Odd said.

Aelita laughed. "I don't doubt that." She looked at her feet. "I just don't think I'm ready to lead a country. Xanadu will be a much better King than I could be a Queen." She smiled. "At least now I can learn to control myself before I take the throne."

"Even better, we can retire from war and running from the Clan!" Yumi said excitedly. "We can be teenagers now! Going to school, gossiping about classmates..." She listed.

"Homework, mean teachers." Odd added sharply.

Ulrich agreed. "I don't think our lives will be easy from here on out."

Gus laughed. "Compared to our time in the Xanadu Clan, our time as fugitives and our war service, high school will be a walk in the park." He joked.

Jeremy smiled. "I couldn't agree more!"

Lyna held Gus's hand and Jeremy's. "We get to be teenagers! How cool is this?" She asked.

The teens joined hands. Their fighting days were over, and it was time to begin the rest of their lives.

* * *

A/N: Stay tuned for the final epilogue!


	41. Chapter 41

_Chapter Forty-One: the End_

Two weeks after Xanadu's coronation, the Belpois family and friends moved to Philedelphia, where the teens started private school. They were fairly successful there, despite receiving hatred for being magical creatures.

Of course their time in Philedelphia was not without issues. Three months after school started, Jeremy was arrested after being accused of Griffith Thompson's murder. Aelita managed to clear his name by admitting her own guilt. She also faced trial. After learning of Thompson's past, which of course included child molestation and treason but also murder, grand theft, jailbreak, and extortion, was acquitted of murder, but she did spend two months in a juvenile detention center for misdemeanor trespassing. The judge recommended that she spend time there.

During her incarceration, Jeremy was tested for diseases. Luckily, he was disease-free. Also during her incarceration, Kya gave birth to Ethan. The baby easily captured the hearts of the family. Even Ulrich adored him.

Gus and Lyna officially became an item a year later. Their relationship was rocky, though they made it work. In 2011, Gus was diagnosed with cancer. Lyna and the others stuck beside him through the chemotherapy. He was declared cancer free eight months later.

Yumi and Ulrich also had a rocky relationship. Yumi, being a very proud, passionate person, and Ulrich, being a cold, distant person, made for unavoidable bumps in the road. They got together and broke up many times, though declared their relationship terminated permantly in July of 2015. The group has bets on when they will reunite.

Odd contacted his family for the first time since Christmas. They were ecstatic to hear from him. He was reunited with them soon after he called, and he spent a majority of the following four years with his family. He spent the summers in Lyoko, with the others.

Avalon continued to serve Aelita, albeit on Lyoko. Every now and then, the dragon would visit, bringing trinkets and letters from Lyoko's citizens. Xanadu seemed to be a very effective leader, despite his creature blood. He was much beloved by the citizens. During vacation, Aelita would visit him, as well as Jeremy.

McPhee died shortly after Ethan was born. All the teens visit him, and his death was mourned for a long time. Madeline resigned from her job after his death, and after a short fling with Suzy Powers, moved back to Ohio to be with her family, where she eventually married. Suzy was reunited with her daughter Miranda, who had been impersonating her mother in West Virginia before being used as an energy source at the Opera. Apparently, she'd fallen in love with Lukas Hayes. The two Passage Knights dated for two months before deciding that it was best not to continue seeing each other.

Two years after the Opera, Xanadu died. Aelita ascended to the throne two months later, meaning she could no longer continue her formal education. Much to Jeremy's dismay, his parents refused to allow him to drop out as well. They continued their relationship by using video chat.

After high school, most of the teens went on to college. Jeremy designed computers. Lyna entered the military, becoming the first creature to serve openly in the U.S marines. Gus went to medical school. Yumi majored in Japanese history from a Japanese university. Ulrich went on to play professional soccer, and then tried to find his friends from Germany. Odd became a famous artist.

After college, Jeremy and Aelita married. Lyoko was overjoyed. There was partying in the streets for days. The Queen and the king consort proved to be reformers, and were concerned first and foremost about their people. Their people walked with a certain glow from having monarchs that loved each other so.

And love each other they did.

* * *

A/N: And that's it! A sort of weak ending, but truth be told, I'm rather pleased with it. And if I'm being _totally_ honest, I didn't write it for you! If I had, Morgan would not have been Laurelei and Laurelei would have sooner and more violently. I wrote this to increase my skills as a writer, and I feel that I acocomplished that.

I do have to thank you, though. It was through your support that the '_Live_ _Free or Die_' trilogy was successful as it has been. I don't think that you'll hear much in the way of Code Lyoko from me here in the future, but you will find more fan fiction for Code Lyoko on my Quotev account here: LyokoNative

You can also reach my account from my profile. My two non-LFoD stories are '_Dreamcatcher_' (finished) and '_Seventh Dawn_' (incomplete as of Aug. 9, 2013) These stories are written in a different style than LFoD, AfOC and BVaA, which is partly why they aren't on my Fan Fiction account.

In any case, enough advertising. Thank you all so much! You made this possible. Now I'll leave before the smell of cheese makes you pass out. My name is Lyoko Native, and you've finished '_By Valor and Arms_'.


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